Week #26, 27, 28, 29, Cemetery

Biloxi Cemetery, c. 1940, oil on canvas, 17" x 19". Collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art.

Dear Friends,

This edition of our E-news, which is much delayed, is the first official newsletter from our new website. We had a test run a few weeks ago which could only be sent to a limited group of our contacts. But this one should come to all of you again. I hope it reaches you all.

Please note that our website, although up and running, is still under continued construction.

And thanks for bearing with us as we go through this quagmire!

As we get back on track, I thought it nice to share this very unique and rare painting by Dusti Bongé Haling from the collection of the Mississippi Museum of Art, Biloxi Cemetery. is one of the early works that is currently on view at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art(WAMA) exhibit titled Dusti Bongé: Modernist of the South.

Dusti would stroll through the cemetery and spend time there quite often during her early career. One reason was that her husband Archie Bongé was buried there. Moreover, the cemetery, which dates back to the late 1700s, early 1800s, offers a beautiful setting with lots of monuments, crypts, angels and other statues all nestled under fabulous live oaks.

The beauty of the place, paired with the cherished memory of her husband, made for a perfect place to spend time. And Dusti spent that time drawing the interesting interplay between the various shapes and sizes of the graves, and their geometric juxtaposition against one another.

Hence, there are multiple pastel drawings as well as many quick studies in her early sketchbooks, all with varying views of the cemetery. But there are not many paintings. To date, we only have two cemetery paintings recorded.

This painting is exceptional because it is the only one of all her cemetery scenes that features bright, almost joyous colors. The other ones are primarily in softer shades of blues, greens, grays and browns. Here the colors of the foliage, brick structures and sky are bright, and the white mausolea offer a fascinating interplay between shadow and light. The whole offers an exuberant interpretation of a typically solemn place.