The Magic of Hunt Slonem’s Louisiana by Cayman Clevenger
HUNT SLONEM SITS in a chair that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Joseph. “Believe it or not, he lived in New Jersey,” he tells me. Slonem is a baritone who speaks with a punctuated, deliberate cadence. He chooses his words carefully, and he loves sharing pieces of arcana, like the one about Joseph Bonaparte. When in Louisiana, Slonem can often be found at Madewood, his home on the banks of Bayou LaFourche about an hour south of Baton Rouge, outside of the small town of Napoleonville. It is one of three historic homes in Louisiana he is restoring and preserving for future generations—the others are Albania on Bayou Teche near Jeanerette and Lakeside in Bachelor, 14
Inside Northside
north of Baton Rouge. He has been enamored with Louisiana since his days at Tulane University in the 1970s, where his muses of art, history and architecture came together; they continue to define his career. Although you won’t find his signature on the front of any of his works, Slonem’s art is distinctly his own and instantly recognizable. He’s a painter, print-maker, sculptor, entrepreneur, educator, writer and conservationist. Four years ago, Lee Jofa, the high-end interior design firm, approached Slonem about launching his own luxury fabrics, wallpaper and carpet. “Charles E. Burchfield, who was one of the most important American watercolor painters, created wallpaper for most of his life and used that >>
