Inside Looking Out

The Art of Queena Stovall

On Display
to
Exhibition Type
Limited Time Exhibition
Time Period
1877 to 1924
1925 to Today
Topics
Art & Architecture
Domestic Life
Women's History

About the Exhibition: The first exhibition of its kind in that it displays nearly all of artist Queena Stovall’s work in one place, this exhibition featured 44 of the 49 artworks Stovall produced over the course of her 18-year career, as well as several items familiar to her studio, including her easel and paint stand. Stovall's lively and intricate paintings use bright colors and careful strokes to depict vignettes featuring crop harvests, canning for the winter, cooking, livestock auctions, baptisms, and funerals. Each painting opens a window into Stovall’s world and magnifies a way of life that over time has vanished. 

Queena Stovall studied at Randolph Macon Woman’s College under artist Pierre Daura. However, Daura was so impressed with her natural style of painting that he advised her to stop taking his classes so she could develop her own style without influence. In 1956, Stovall displayed her first solo exhibition at the Lynchburg Art Center. Her artwork can now be found in the collections of Lynchburg College, the Fenimore Art Museum in New York, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the New York State Historical Association. She was honored by the Library of Virginia in 2010 in the Virginia Women in History presentation for her contributions to folk art. 

FURTHER READING:  

Inside Looking Out Featured Artifacts

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A painting titled Making Apple Butter - January 1951 // Collection of Daura Gallery, Lynchburg College // Gift of Ellen & Bill Jamerson
Making Apple Butter - January 1951 // Collection of Daura Gallery, Lynchburg College // Gift of Ellen & Bill Jamerson
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A painting titled Peaches Are In - October 1950 // Collection of Mr. & Mrs. S. Allen Chambers Jr.
Peaches Are In - October 1950 // Collection of Mr. & Mrs. S. Allen Chambers Jr.
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A painting titled Fireside in Virginia - December 1950 // Collection of Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York. // Museum Purchase, N0061.1994
Fireside in Virginia - December 1950 // Collection of Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New York. // Museum Purchase, N0061.1994
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A painting titled Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - October 1953 // Collection of Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, founded as Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - October 1953 // Collection of Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, founded as Randolph-Macon Woman’s College
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A painting titled “Comp’ny Comin’” - February 1967 // Collection of Mr. & Mrs. David Hugh Stovall Jr
“Comp’ny Comin’” - February 1967 // Collection of Mr. & Mrs. David Hugh Stovall Jr
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A photograph of Emma Serena "Queena" Stovall
Emma Serena “Queena” Stovall (1887-1980) - The artist smiles for the camera carrying a basket of produce from her garden.