Acquisitions round-up: an 'exceptionally rare' portrait of an enslaved person and two large-scale donations

"In April this enigmatic painting, one of just two known portraits of individuals enslaved in pre-emancipation Mississippi, sold for $508,750 when it appeared at Neal Auction Company, New Orleans. The sitter, Frederick, was enslaved by the plantation owner Haller Nutt, and his portrait has hung in the Nutt family's Longwood mansion in Natchez since the late 1860s. "Frederick has become the stuff of legend for Confederate apologists and tourists," says the historian Katy Morlas Shannon."

""Most of what has been said about him has been invented-either in an effort to explain why he was chosen to be painted or to whitewash a brutal past." The portrait has now been jointly acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. The work is "exceptionally rare as a portrait of an enslaved person depicted independently of white subjects," says MMA's creative director, Chase Quinn."

In April a portrait of Frederick, one of two known pre-emancipation Mississippi portraits of enslaved individuals, sold for $508,750 at Neal Auction Company, New Orleans. Frederick was enslaved by plantation owner Haller Nutt and his portrait hung in the Nutt family's Longwood mansion in Natchez since the late 1860s. Observers note that many narratives about Frederick have been invented either to explain why he was painted or to whitewash a brutal past. The painting was jointly acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Separately, collector Hermann Gerlinger donated 42 Die Brücke works to Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, including Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's marriage portrait Du und ich. Suki Seokyeong Kang's Mat Black Mat (2022–23) is also noted.

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