Sugarcane Vendor

This is one of Clark's larger paintings, and it's a remarkable one. It is from Southern Mexico, painted 1980, at the height of his powers.

This painting has something for every Hulings afficionado: rigorous composition, that complicated tree and all those cane stalks at every angle, a donkey and cart, a woman with a head scarf, men with straw hats, lots of texture and light patterns. It even ties together the Southwest and Louisiana influences on Clark's subject matter. That sugarcane is the star of the work, even though it has to compete with all those active figures, including the burros.