Jane Smith Ninas Evans Sargent

Note: While Jane Smith Ninas Evans Sargent’s story is often overshadowed by that of her two famous ex-husbands, painter Paul Ninas and photographer Walker Evans, she was an accomplished artist in her own right. A graduate of Newcomb College, Jane was associated with the Arts and Crafts Club of New Orleans, and she was active in the flourishing arts community of the French Quarter. In 1933, Jane married noted artist Paul Ninas, and the couple shared a studio where they engaged in a friendly rivalry. Two years later, Jane met famed photographer Walker Evans while he was on assignment in New Orleans. She became Evans’ assistant and guide on his project documenting architecture along River Road. While Evans photographed the grand plantation homes, Jane completed oil paintings and crayon drawings, finding interest rather in the mundane and humble, and her style was based on simplified geometric forms with a muted color palette. Jane later accepted a job with the Federal Art Project of the WPA and continued her friendship with Evans. In 1939, after a scandalous affair, Jane left Ninas for Evans. The couple married a year later and would remain together until she left him in 1955. Jane was a source of inspiration for Evans during their time together, and he created a series of beautiful and haunting photographic portraits of her. As both artist and muse, Jane’s influence on her husbands and their influence on her will always be an intriguing question of the interplay between three talented artists - tied together by love, scandal and art. Jane later married for a final time and moved to Connecticut where she continued producing artwork until her death. Ref.: “Walker Evans and Jane Ninas in New Orleans, 1935-1936.” The Historic New Orleans Collection Newsletter, Volume IX, Number 1. Winter 1991. www.hnoc.org. Accessed Mar. 7, 2023.

15. Josephine Crawford (American/Louisiana, 1878-1952), “Charles Henderson, the Artist’s Nephew”, oil on canvas, unsigned, 24 in. x 20 in., framed, overall 31 7/8 in. x 27 1/2 in. x 1 1/2 in.

[$2000/3000]

Provenance: Estate of the sitter.

Josephine Crawford

16.

Crawford (American/Louisiana, and pencil on mounted to heavy paper, unsigned, 13 1/4 in. x 10 in., framed, overall 17 3/4 in. x 14 5/8 in. x 1 5/8 in. [$1000/1500]

Exh.: “The World of Miss Josephine Crawford”, Isaac Delgado Museum of Art (NOMA), New Orleans, LA, Sept. 13 - Oct 3, 1965 and listed in the accompanying catalogue.

Ill.: Hoffman, Louise C. Josephine Crawford: An Artist’s Vision. New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2009, p. 120.

Neal Auction would like to thank Lisa Rotondo-McCord, Deputy Director for Curatoral Affairs and Curator of Asian Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art, for her assistance with the cataloguing of this lot.

Note: In the early twentieth century, Josephine Crawford, along with her contemporaries, Paul Ninas and Will Henry Stevens, pioneered a new style of art in New Orleans. While the art scene in New Orleans was still embracing Impressionism, Crawford and the others brought with them the teachings of Europe, popularizing Modernism and Cubism and ushering in a new era in the Crescent City.

Crawford was born in New Orleans in 1878 and grew up in the French Quarter at 612 Royal Street. The daughter of Charles Campbell Crawford and Louise Bienvenu Crawford, she was raised speaking French and English. The young Crawford was a budding poet who drew inspiration from her family and her neighborhood. With her words, she captured the vibrant details of her surroundings, and her knack for observation would later make an appearance in her material art.

Crawford started seriously studying art in her forties, attending classes a block away from her home in the newly inaugurated Arts and Crafts Club. New Orleans in the 1920s was becoming quite the cultural hub, drawing creatives from all over the country, including author William Faulkner. The Arts and Crafts Club provided an epicenter for local artists to take classes and exhibit their works and for the public to view important pieces from artists around the world. New Orleans remained Crawford’s home base where she eventually returned after leaving in 1927 to study under André Lhote in Paris, then at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna. Her tenure in the Arts and Crafts Club had her working alongside artists such as Clarence Millet, Alberta Kinsey, Jane and Paul Ninas, John McCrady, Caroline Durieux, and Enrique Alferez among others. Her unique, fluid style won her the Club’s prestigious Blanche Benjamin Prize in 1934 for her portrait of a Creole widow entitled “Rue Kerlerec,” showcasing the strength of her creative talent particularly in portraiture. Crawford’s work was well-received in her lifetime and exhibited in cities such as Philadelphia, New York and Paris. She was often singled out in reviews for her unique and enthralling style. She was an integral part of the vibrant chapter of local art history encompassing the life of the Arts and Crafts Club of New Orleans which eventually shuttered in 1951. In 2009, The Historic New Orleans Collection held a retrospective exhibition of her works. Ref.: Hoffman, Louise C. Josephine Crawford. New Orleans: The Historic New Orleans Collection, 2009.