John McCrady (American, 1911-1968), "Plantation", multi-stage on canvas, signed mid-right, titled on label en verso from the exhibition at the Associated American Artist Gallery, 18.5in. x 28. 5in. in a hand-carved and painted frame by the artist. E50000/75000 Provenance: Purchased from a major exhibition of McCrady's paintings at the 1946 Associated American Artists Gallery in New York City. Note An American regionalist painter, John McCrady found the south's traditions, customs, and landscapes a never-ending source of inspiration. Raised in rural Louisiana and Mississippi, the south permeated his life and art. McCrady articulated his thoughts about hispaintings in the following passage: I see in painting one way of expressing our age, the people and their surroundings, philosophy of life, the emotional reason for their being-as well as my own destiny to thus interpret the meaning of life, as I see it, to these people, who are my neighbors. Man has no world to paint but the one he is a part of, and so I see no sense in going elsewhere in search of new andinteresting material. In Mississippi I was born, and in this section of the country I grew, developing my philosophy of life in these surroundings and with these people. So, naturally, it is the philosophy of these same people and their everyday life in which I am most interested. The painting "Plantation" was exhibited in 1946 at the prestigious one-man show of McCrady's work at the Associated American Artists Gallery in New York City. The painting incorporates acollection of images relating to life in Louisiana and Mississippi. The steamboat on the Mississippi River paddles gracefully by the stately plantation home. To the right are the cotton fields and out buildings. The flora and fauna of the live oak, Spanish moss, palmettos and elephant ears are all indigenous to the area. This superb and important painting reflects McCrady at his best, as an interpreter of life in the south. Ref: Marshall, Keith, "John McCrady,1911-1968," exhibition catalogue, New Orleans Museum of Art, 1975.