Skip to content
The Historic New Orleans Collection
Three abstractly drawn figures stand and sit together. The tallest wears a green coat and wide-brimmed hat, while the others wear patterned and orange dresses, holding black hats. The background features a bridge and decorative floral border.

Josephine Crawford

An Artist’s Vision

by Louise C. Hoffman

Book cover titled Josephine Crawford: An Artists Vision by Louise C. Hoffman. It features a painting of a woman in a white dress and gloves, seated on a chair, with a neutral expression against a soft background.

Josephine Crawford: An Artist’s Vision

Louise C. Hoffman traces the career of Josephine Marien Crawford (1878–1952) from the academy of French master André Lhote to galleries in New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, and Central America. Crawford was inspired by cubism and the flattened forms and minimalist approach of modernism. As contemporary Times-Picayune arts critic Alberta Collier described her work, “This is old New Orleans, caught by the keen eye and trained brush of one of her native daughters.” Hoffman provides a glimpse of Crawford’s personality and skillfully recreates the Paris and New Orleans art worlds of the first half of the 20th century.

“I am amazed at how incredibly detailed Louise Hoffman’s accurate descriptions are. It is informative as it should be, but the crowning touch is that it is so beautiful to read. . . . Several times I stopped and began to read aloud. If I had never seen a work by Josephine Crawford, just reading the author’s descriptions brought the image before me. So few contemporary art writers can achieve that nowadays.”

A portrait of a person with short, curly red hair wearing a green garment, seated against a muted gray background. The painting reflects an introspective expression and detailed brushwork.
A painting depicting a bouquet of white magnolias in a vase with dark green leaves on a neutral background. The flowers are large and appear to be arranged in a simple, elegant composition.

 

Related Stories

View More
First Draft

HNOC’s Portrait Census

First Draft

Dawoud Bey’s Ghosts of the Plantation South

Related Collection Highlights

View More
A stylized portrait of a person looking upwards, depicted using bold black lines and an orange background. The illustration emphasizes strong facial features and contrasts light and shadow with a white pattern on the shirt.

I Am the Black Woman

A rare series of 14 linocuts by Elizabeth Catlett carries her manifesto on behalf of Black American women.

A woman kneels on the ground, shaping a large piece of stone or clay. She is surrounded by art materials and sculptures in an outdoor setting with a brick floor and plants in the background.

Lin Emery Papers

The renowned sculptor’s papers shed light on her process, dedication, and artistic evolution.

A soft, blurred painting of a tranquil, wooded landscape. Dark trees stand near a calm body of water, reflecting the serene atmosphere of the scene. The sky is overcast, adding a hazy and muted tone to the overall image.

Black River Country

Painter Alexander John Drysdale was known for his landscapes, for which he used a technique of thinning oil paint with kerosene.

Related Virtual Exhibitions

View More
A painting depicts a street scene with two people. One sits on a bench outside a wooden building with a louvered facade. Another person stands near a doorway. The architecture features balconies and red-tiled roofs under a cloudy sky.
New Orleans Neighborhoods

French Quarter Life: People and Places in the Vieux Carré

Artistic impressions of New Orleans’s most iconic neighborhood

A vintage movie poster for Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte featuring a woman in a yellow dress dancing with a man in a suit. A ghostly choir stands in the background. The poster includes stylized text and a dramatic image of a womans face on the side.
Film & TV

From Cameo to Close-Up: Louisiana in Film

Explore how the picturesque scenery of Louisiana has provided the backdrop for films since the early 1900s.

Related Books

View More
Cover of the book In Search of Julien Hudson showing an illustration of a man with a beard in period attire. Text includes the title and subtitle Free Artist of Color in Pre-Civil War New Orleans and mentions essays by William Keyse Rudolph and Patricia Brady.

In Search of Julien Hudson: Free Artist of Color in Pre–Civil War New Orleans

edited and with an introduction by Erin M. Greenwald, with essays by William Keyse Rudolph and Patricia Brady

Stay Connected

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Esto 2019 JG23 544 o6