"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist

View Similar Items

May Mott Smith - "A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.031

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.034

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.028

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.025

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.027

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.041

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.072

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Goauche on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.071

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Goauche on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.066

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Goauche on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.062

Linda Stein - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Goauche on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.067

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 8

May Mott Smith
"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist
circa 1925

$6,500List Price

About the Item

May Mott Smith (1879 - 1952) A Martinique Native in French Guiana, circa 1925 Watercolor on paper 24 x 20 inches Signed lower right; titled on the reverse “Martinique Native” is an excellent example of Mott-Smith’s finest work. She depicts a regal Martiniquais woman in French Guiana dressed in boldly-colored clothing and gold jewelry. This empathetic depiction of a dignified Afro-Caribbean woman was extremely rare in U.S. art of the period and illustrate why Mott-Smith’s skillful paintings continue to charm in the twenty-first century. May Mott-Smith (1879-1952) was a woman ahead of her time. In an era when the possibilities for women were extremely limited, the thrice-married Mott-Smith roamed across the globe, working as a painter, sculptor, jewelry designer, and travel writer. The watercolors by this intrepid traveler and unique woman painter continue to appeal to this day. May was born in Honolulu in 1879. Her father, John Mott-Smith went to the Kingdom of Hawaii (it did not become part of the United States until 1898) after the California Gold Rush and worked as one of the first dentists on the island. He then became a politician, newspaper editor, diplomat, and land speculator. By the time he died in 1895, he left his seven children an estate worth about $300,000 including sugar plantations. May’s share was estimated between $60,000 and $90,000 (about 2 to 3 million in 2020 dollars). May Mott-Smith began painting at 11 years old and studied art in Paris at Académie Colarossi and Mark Hopkins Institute in San Francisco. She exhibited her work at the Saint Louis Exposition (1904), the Panama-Pacific Exposition (1915; silver medal for jewelry), and the Panama-California Exposition (San Diego, 1915-17; bronze medal for bas relief), as well as in Paris, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. In addition to painting, sculpting, and designing jewelry, Mott-Smith created miniatures, plaques, and medals of famous people. In the 1920s, she began to travel the world in search of artistic material, especially visiting places where most U.S. women would not dare to go. After a trip to Afghanistan, she wrote a pamphlet in 1929 entitled On the Khyber to Kabul. Her experiences in Soviet Russia yielded Roughing It in Russia On Twenty Dollars a Day. A Jamaican newspaper noted in 1934 that she was “one of the select few women who have invaded Devil’s Isle in Cayenne, the French convict settlement.” Her most easily accessible literary work is Africa from Port to Port (1930) in which she described a two-year tour around the coast of Africa as a single woman. Her journey began in Tripoli, went west to Morocco and then south to Senegal and Cape Town, up the east coast of Africa (including Madagascar) and ended at Port Said. Mott-Smith’s writing gave a vivid eye-witness account of Africa in its mid-colonial stage, with its dirty hotels, impassable roads, and boisterous street scenes. Although she displayed the typical prejudices of her time, her travelogue remains a valuable resource. One reviewer noted that “she has an observing eve and a bright pen, besides a camera, which she used generously and cleverly to illustrate her story.” Her book was illustrated by Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003), later a world-famous caricaturist. Wherever she traveled, Mott-Smith painted the local scenery and native inhabitants, often with a broad free technique and loose brushwork. Some examples of her exotic subject matter include scenes set in China, Afghanistan, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, and Africa. In 2016, her watercolor “View of Hong Kong Harbor” sold for $7,750. She also painted domestic scenes and landscapes. Mott-Smith spent her declining years at the Windermere apartment house (West 57th St. and 9th Ave.) in New York City from 1944 until her death in 1952 at age 73. She was buried in Oahu Cemetery, Hawaii.

Creator:
May Mott Smith (1879 - 1952)
Creation Year:
circa 1925
Dimensions:
Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 25 in (63.5 cm)
Medium:
Paper,Watercolor
Movement & Style:
Feminist
Period:
1920-1929
Condition:
Excellent. Frame has some chips and abrasions.
Gallery Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU115626248082

More From This Seller

View All

Original TV Guide Illustration Caricature Esther Williams John Raitt Dinah Shore

By Albert Al Hirschfeld

Located in New York, NY

Original TV Guide Illustration Caricature Esther Williams John Raitt Dinah Shore. Published December 25, 1957 in TV Guide as an editorial to promote the Di...

Category

1950s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Original TV Guide Illustration Caricature Esther Williams John Raitt Dinah Shore, 1957

$12,000

Sidney Poitier & Tony Curtis Oscar Winning 1958 film The Defiant Ones Caricature

By Albert Al Hirschfeld

Located in New York, NY

"The Defiant Ones" Tony Curtis Sidney Poitier Oscar Winning 1958 film Caricature. Two escaped convicts chained together, one white and one black, must l...

Category

1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Sidney Poitier & Tony Curtis Oscar Winning 1958 film The Defiant Ones Caricature, 1958

$55,000

"Marc Chagall" Original Drawing Illustration Caricature William Saroyan book

By Albert Al Hirschfeld

Located in New York, NY

"Marc Chagall" Original Drawing Illustration Caricature William Saroyan book This drawing was published in the 1976 edition of William Saroyan's SONS ...

Category

1970s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Albert Al Hirschfeld
"Marc Chagall" Original Drawing Illustration Caricature William Saroyan book, 1976

$14,000

Mission Impossible Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century

By Albert Al Hirschfeld

Located in New York, NY

"Mission Impossible" Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century NYC with Greg Morris, Barbara Bain, and Steve Hill. This original drawing...

Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Mission Impossible Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century, 1966

$15,000

Bette Midler Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho

By Albert Al Hirschfeld

Located in New York, NY

Bette Midler Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho Al Hirschfeld (1903 - 2003) Bette Midler 15 x 11 inches (sight) Etching 22 x 18 inches Framed Signed an...

Category

1980s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Bette Midler Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, 198022

$12,500

"Judy Garland" Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho

By Albert Al Hirschfeld

Located in New York, NY

"Judy Garland" Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho Al Hirschfeld (1903 - 2003) Judy Garland 20 x 15 inches (sight) Etching 26 1/2 x 14 3/4 inches Framed...

Category

1970s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Board

Albert Al Hirschfeld
"Judy Garland" Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, C. 1970s

$7,500

1920s Feminist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Watercolor

May Mott Smith
"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist, circa 1925

$5,200 Sale Price

20% Off

Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.031

Located in New York, NY

Linda Stein, Profile Solid 383.031 - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Colorful Acrylic and Gouache on Paper Drawing Profile Solid 383.031 is from Linda Stein's Profiles series--drawings, coll...

Category

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Gouache

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.031, 1975

$5,500

Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.034

Located in New York, NY

Linda Stein, Profile Solid 383.034 - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Colorful Acrylic and Gouache on Paper Drawing Profile Solid 383.034 is from Linda Stein's Profiles series--drawings, coll...

Category

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Gouache

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.034, 1975

$5,500

Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.028

Located in New York, NY

Linda Stein, Profile Solid 383.028 - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Colorful Acrylic and Gouache on Paper Drawing Profile Solid 383.028 is from Linda Stein's Profiles series--drawings, coll...

Category

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Gouache

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.028, 1975

$5,500

Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.025

Located in New York, NY

Linda Stein, Profile Solid 383.025 - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Colorful Acrylic and Gouache on Paper Drawing Profile Solid 383.025 is from Linda Stein's Profiles series--drawings, coll...

Category

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Gouache

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.025, 1975

$5,500

Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.027

Located in New York, NY

Linda Stein, Profile Solid 383.027 - Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Colorful Acrylic and Gouache on Paper Drawing Profile Solid 383.027 is from Linda Stein's Profiles series--drawings, coll...

Category

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Acrylic, Gouache

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.027, 1975

$5,500

More Ways To Browse

Abstract Geometric Art Paintings

European Oil Paintings

Oil Painting Of Houses

Narrative Painting

The Helper Painting

Colorized Vintage Photos

Limited Edition Print New York

Art Free Shipping

Still Life Study

Paintings On The Beach

"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist

View Similar Items

May Mott Smith
"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist
circa 1925

About the Item

More From This Seller

1950s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Original TV Guide Illustration Caricature Esther Williams John Raitt Dinah Shore, 1957

1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Sidney Poitier & Tony Curtis Oscar Winning 1958 film The Defiant Ones Caricature, 1958

1970s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld
"Marc Chagall" Original Drawing Illustration Caricature William Saroyan book, 1976

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Mission Impossible Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century, 1966

1980s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Bette Midler Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, 198022

1970s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld
"Judy Garland" Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, C. 1970s

You May Also Like

1920s Feminist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

May Mott Smith
"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist, circa 1925

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.031, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.034, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.028, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.025, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.027, 1975

Recently Viewed

More Ways To Browse

"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist

View Similar Items

May Mott Smith"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artistcirca 1925

About the Item

More From This Seller

1950s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al HirschfeldOriginal TV Guide Illustration Caricature Esther Williams John Raitt Dinah Shore, 1957

1950s Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al HirschfeldSidney Poitier & Tony Curtis Oscar Winning 1958 film The Defiant Ones Caricature, 1958

1970s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld"Marc Chagall" Original Drawing Illustration Caricature William Saroyan book, 1976

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al HirschfeldMission Impossible Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century, 1966

1980s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al HirschfeldBette Midler Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, 198022

1970s Performance Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Albert Al Hirschfeld"Judy Garland" Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, C. 1970s

You May Also Like

1920s Feminist Portrait Drawings and Watercolors

May Mott Smith"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist, circa 1925

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda SteinSigned Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.031, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda SteinSigned Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.034, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda SteinSigned Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.028, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda SteinSigned Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.025, 1975

1970s Feminist Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Linda SteinSigned Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.027, 1975

Recently Viewed

More Ways To Browse

May Mott Smith
"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist
circa 1925

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Original TV Guide Illustration Caricature Esther Williams John Raitt Dinah Shore, 1957

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Sidney Poitier & Tony Curtis Oscar Winning 1958 film The Defiant Ones Caricature, 1958

Albert Al Hirschfeld
"Marc Chagall" Original Drawing Illustration Caricature William Saroyan book, 1976

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Mission Impossible Original TV Guide Drawing Illustration Caricature Mid Century, 1966

Albert Al Hirschfeld
Bette Midler Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, 198022

Albert Al Hirschfeld
"Judy Garland" Legendary Film and Recording Star. Gay Icon. 20th Century Litho, C. 1970s

May Mott Smith
"A Martinique Native in French Guyana, " Black Female Portrait, Female Artist, circa 1925

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.031, 1975

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.034, 1975

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.028, 1975

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.025, 1975

Linda Stein
Signed Feminist LGBTQ+ Acrylic Gouache on Paper Drawing - Profile Solid 383.027, 1975