Two Portraits by Julien Hudson
The elusive Creole artist of color makes a rare showing in the Williams Research Center.
Williams Research Center, 2nd Floor
410 Chartres Street
Open to the public; museum admission is not required.
For over a century, the name Julien Hudson has been shrouded in mystery. The first native-born portraitist in Louisiana history and the second-known portraitist of color in America, Hudson made a name for himself in the 19th century, died young, and left behind little of his catalog. Only six of his works are known to exist, and last year, the Historic New Orleans Collection acquired two of them through a generous bequest. The exceedingly rare paintings—one depicting a Creole boy, the other an African or African-descended man—each hint at individual stories of complexity, tragedy, and hope.
HNOC is proud to display these two important works of American art history in a new installation at the Williams Research Center. Curators’ text will share what we know—and don’t—about the sitters and Hudson himself. Viewers are invited to reflect on the lives captured in the paintings and the artist who left them behind too soon.
Note: Museum admission is not required to visit HNOC’s Williams Research Center.
Williams Research Center
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In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans
edited and with an introduction by Erin M. Greenwald, with essays by William Keyse Rudolph and Patricia Brady
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