Theora Hamblett
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Theora Hamblett (January 15, 1895 – March 6, 1977) was an American painter, one of the first Mississippi
folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
ists to achieve national prominence. Hamblett's paintings can be divided into three categories: memory paintings, dream paintings, and landscape paintings.


Early life

Theora Alton Hamblett was born 15 January 1895, in Paris, Mississippi. Her father Samuel was a Civil War veteran, who was 72 years old when Theora was born. She was educated at Lafayette County Agricultural High School and at Blue Mountain College. .Lee Kogan, "Theora Hamblett," in Gerard C. Wertkin, ed., ''Encyclopedia of American Folk Art'' (Routledge 2003): 243–244.
Hamblett was raised in a very religious household and rotated between
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
and
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
churches. Theora Hamblett became interested in painting at a young age, though she did not start taking painting classes until later in her life at age fifty-five. Carol Crown states that when Hamblett was eight years old, she was given crayons as a present which could have stimulated her interest in painting. Hamblett was a teacher in her early adulthood; she left the classroom in 1931, and cared for her dying mother for several years. In 1939 she bought a house in
Oxford, Mississippi Oxford is a city and college town in the U.S. state of Mississippi. Oxford lies 75 miles (121 km) south-southeast of Memphis, Tennessee, and is the county seat of Lafayette County. Founded in 1837, it was named after the British city of Oxf ...
, where she lived and rented rooms to students. In her mid-fifties, she took her first nighttime painting class at the
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...
. She also took correspondence courses on art.


Symbolism

Hamblett uses many symbols in her artwork. Hamblett's paintings are colorful and frequently harken back to her childhood on a farm, or depict stories from the Bible. Some represent Hamblett's dreams or visions, frequently with
religious symbol A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion. Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chapl ...
ism (angels, chariots, butterflies, stairways, roses).Paul Grootkerk, "The Visionary Paintings of Theora Hamblett," ''Women's Art Journal'' 11(2)(Autumn 1990-Winter 1991): 19–22.
/ref> Butterflies in Hamblett's paintings represent
resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...
and the soul. A rose in Hamblett's art symbolizes love, martyrdom, or The Virgin Mary. The color yellow represents divinity or God in Hamblett's art. Silver symbolizes the death of the body in Hamblett's paintings. In 1954, Hamblett broke her hip in an accident and needed surgery. While she was in the hospital, Hamblett began to paint her visions. Many of her dreams were religious in nature. Hamblett did not sell many of these paintings because they were intimate and personal.


Style and technique

Theora Hamblett's artwork is characterized by vibrant colors. She has a unique style of creating trees in her artwork which is easily recognizable by fans of her art. She had a specific method of layering colors in the individual leaves so that they shine with bright colors. She layered each single leaf on the art piece to make the trees the central focus of her paintings. Hamblett painted landscape scenes of all four seasons, but she was extremely fond of autumn because of the dazzling color of the fall leaves. Hamblett almost exclusively used oil paint on canvas. Carol Crown states that an artist she "developed a unique
pointillist Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...
technique that invested her paintings with a distinctive look."


Personal life and legacy

Hamblett died 6 March 1977, age 82. Hundreds of her drawings and unsold paintings were left to the University of Mississippi Museum. The largest collection of Theora Hamblett's art is at The University of Mississippi Museum. Several of her paintings are also available for display in American embassies. Nelson A. Rockefeller and Sir
Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
were other collectors who owned works by Hamblett. Football player
Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...
is also said to own a painting by Theora Hamblett. Their charm was recognized as early as 1954, when she sold a painting to a New York gallery owner,
Betty Parsons Betty Parsons (born Betty Bierne Pierson, January 31, 1900 – July 23, 1982) was an American artist, art dealer, and collector known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She is regarded as one of the most influential and dynamic f ...
. She was featured in a 1955 show of new acquisitions at the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
. In the 1960s and 1970s, some of her paintings were used for
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
Christmas cards A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during t ...
and calendars. In 1972 she was part of another show at the Museum of Modern Art, this time focusing on
naive art Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...
. In 1977, director
William R. Ferris William Reynolds Ferris (born February 5, 1942) is an American author and scholar and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. With Judy Peiser he co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis, Tennessee; he was the fou ...
featured Hamblett in the documentary film "Four Women Artists," produced by the Center for Southern Folklore, as one of the four Mississippi
women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...
in the title, along with writer
Eudora Welty Eudora Alice Welty (April 13, 1909 – July 23, 2001) was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel ''The Optimist's Daughter'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numero ...
, quilter Pecolia Warner, and embroiderer
Ethel Wright Mohamed Ethel Wright Mohamed (October 13, 1906 – February 15, 1992) was an American artist, best known for her embroidered scenes of country life. She is sometimes compared to " Grandma Moses," both for her folk art style of illustration and her late ...
. There is a historic marker at the site of Hamblett's house in Oxford. The house was also depicted in a keepsake ornament produced in 2009 for the University of Mississippi. Efforts are currently underway to erect a historical marker near her gravesite in Paris, Mississippi.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamblett, Theora Painters from Mississippi 1895 births 1977 deaths People from Lafayette County, Mississippi People from Oxford, Mississippi University of Mississippi alumni Women outsider artists Outsider artists American women painters 20th-century American painters 20th-century American women artists Schoolteachers from Mississippi 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators