A soft, blurred painting of a tranquil, wooded landscape. Dark trees stand near a calm body of water, reflecting the serene atmosphere of the scene. The sky is overcast, adding a hazy and muted tone to the overall image.

Black River Country, circa 1927 HNOC, acquisition made possible by the Laussat Society, 2018.0513.2

Laussat Acquisitions

Black River Country

Painter Alexander John Drysdale was known for his landscapes, for which he used a technique of thinning oil paint with kerosene.

Laussat Acquisitions

Black River Country

Painter Alexander John Drysdale was known for his landscapes, for which he used a technique of thinning oil paint with kerosene.

ca. 1927

by Alexander John Drysdale

acquisition made possible by the Laussat Society, 2018.0513.2

Alexander John Drysdale (1870–1934) is known for his misty, tonalist Louisiana scenes. Inspired by the state’s wetlands, Drysdale “drifted along the bayous in a boat,” according to biographer Howard A. Buechner, “a mustached figure in old clothes, puffing his pipe, and finding inspiration in Barataria, Teche, Chef Menteur, and Black River.” This demilune (half moon) painting, Black River Country, is typical of his canvases. Between 1910 and 1916 Drysdale developed the technique for which he is remembered today: thinning his oil paints with kerosene or coal oil in what he termed “a watercolor technique applied to oil.” Drysdale lined up his canvases and first painted in the sky, after which he delineated land areas with quickly rendered brushstrokes to represent swamp grasses and marsh flowers. His impressionistic landscapes frequently feature a single moss-draped oak tree, but Black River Country depicts a pair of oaks flanked by a cypress.

The circa-1927 oil painting hangs above a fireplace in the Barbara S. Beckman Music Room in HNOC’s Seignouret-Brulatour Building at 520 Royal Street. HNOC, acquisition made possible by the Laussat Society, 2018.0513.2

HNOC acquired Black River Country to install in a place of prominence in the Seignouret-Brulatour Building, because Drysdale has a strong connection to the painting’s new home. He was a member of the Arts and Crafts Club of New Orleans, which incorporated in 1922. Banker and philanthropist William Ratcliffe Irby, who owned the building at the time, renovated it for the club’s use as part of his commitment “to great charitable efforts and to the use of his large fortune for the benefit of his fellow citizens,” according to an obituary of the benefactor. He also purchased a number of Vieux Carré properties to save them from demolition. At the time of his death, in 1926, Irby was remodeling the upper part of the building with the intention of moving there. Among the fittings Irby installed was a $20,000 pipe organ.

Historical photographs show a landscape hanging in Irby’s organ room. Accordingly, HNOC looked to landscapes when selecting an artwork for the newly restored space, and Drysdale was chosen for his prominence among Louisiana landscape artists of Irby’s period. Black River Country belongs to a 22-painting series commissioned in 1927 for and subsequently exhibited at the D. H. Holmes Department Store on Canal Street. The installation of Drysdale’s vintage landscape in this room, made possible by the Laussat Society, is an ideal representation of Irby’s contribution to the reclamation of the historic structures of the French Quarter, particularly the Seignouret-Brulatour Building.