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George Drummond Mansfield (1920-2008) American Artist/Louisiana

G. Drummond Mansfield, American artist known for his paintings of the French Quarter in New Orleans. He painted at the “Slave Quarter Studio” located at 631 rue Chartres, in the heart of the French Quarter. It was an exotic and sensual neighborhood, with dawn-to-dawn jazz, crawfish and etouffee, part bizarre and part beautiful.

This painting depicts a colorful sunset with a silhouette of a horse and buggy touring the French Quarter. The balconies covered with their lacy iron scrollwork adds iconic structural elements to the buildings and street scene that says Vieux Carre. He was known for painting New Orleans scenes, signed "Mansfield" and “Drummond”. His middle name was a family name, the same as his father, Thomas Drummond Mansfield, MD. This explains why he used two different names as his signature.

"The French Quarter" Oil on Canvas, 
 Signed: Mansfield, G. Drummond Mansfield

George Drummond Mansfield was born in 1920 in Seoul, Korea; his father was a Medical Missionary working in Japanese occupied Korea. All of his siblings were also born in Korea. This was an interesting time, as Missionaries were thought to be part of the unrest within Korea. Many young Koreans were calling for freedom against Japan.
Mansfield moved to the States and first studied at Chicago’s American Academy of Fine Art, then the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and De Paul University. He worked as a commercial artist in Chicago, and some say he was mostly a self-taught artist.

He had showings in the Chicago area and in New Orleans to where he later moved. For ten years he specialized in painting old New Orleans. These paintings hung in homes in every State of the Union and numerous countries. This painting presents the famous French Quarter. The work dates to the early 1960's. New Orleans scenes are popular with many visitors to the city, who wanted something in their homes to remind them of good times spent there.

Mansfield Gallery Label
Label for example only

He copyrighted many of his illustrations/paintings with the Library of Congress. He went on to paint in Colorado, Indiana, and he has works in Evanston, IL and Monroe County History Center, Bloomington, IN. Additionally, he prepared the illustrations for John M. Findley’s book, “Just Lucky”. He died in Bloomington, IN, in 2008 at age 87.
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©2022. Waller-Yoblonsky Fine Art is a research collaborative, working to track artists that got lost and overlooked due to time, changing styles, race, gender and/or sexual orientation. Our frequent blogs highlight artists and art movements that need renewed attention with improved information for the researcher and art collectors. This blog was created by Mr. Waller and all written materials were obtained by the Fair Use Section 107 of The Copyright Act for educational purposes. Additionally, this research work may be used with appropriate attributions to the author Anthony Waller and must be in compliance with the “fair use” as defined by the U.S. Copyright law.

Comments

  1. He also painted several Victorian homes in Aspen ,Colo.when he had a Studuo there.His paint work on those was excellent. I own one. And i spoke to him shortly before his death about my picture.He was a very nice man.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are most correct. Readers, please note the info above, and add it to your knowledge and understanding of Mr. Mansfield.

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