Martha Ann and Ray Samuel Collection
When Martha Ann Brett and Ray Samuel married in 1946, both knew they wished to collect paintings but were also aware of the fact that their newlywed budget would not stretch to include works by the French Impressionists. However, such good friends as NewOrleans dealer Albert Lieutaud, his wife, Lily, and Naomi Marshall suggested that Louisiana art, both period and contemporary, had largely been ignored, was of a remarkable quality, seriously undervalued, and happily still reasonably easy to acquire. Provided with that welcome information, Martha Ann and Ray Samuel purchased their first Louisiana painting in 1947, initiating what was to become a life-long pleasure in collecting the best art of the area.
Pursuing a varied career in journalism and public relations, Ray Samuel collected prints, drawings, and objects relating to the Mississippi steamboat trade and the Battle of New Orleans, but the paintings collection was a project fully shared with his wife (upon his retirement, Ray Samuel began a second career as New Orleans’ leading dealer in maps, rare prints and books dealing with these topics). Inevitably, as their knowledge about Louisiana painting grew, the couple formed a useful and pleasurable connection with such local collectors as Roger Houston Ogden and dealers such as Tim Foley, among others.
With the advice and help of such interested parties, the Samuels evolved standards for the collection; these standards included the acquisition of an outstanding work by each artist of recognized importance. Size was not a matter of great significance; if an outstanding work happened to be of small dimensions, then that work was to be acquired. Martha Ann was fond of remarking in her numerous lectures that one should look for pictures “painted big, small” by which she meant that an effective image need not necessarily be of large scale.
Quality, not quantity, was paramount. If an important work was in less than perfect condition, one should consider having it treated by a qualified conservator. An outgrowth of these concerns was the interest the couple took in finding proper period frames for each work. If an important work was presented in an irrelevant or unattractive later frame, the proper surround was sought.
Following Ray Samuel’s death in 1990 at the age of seventy-six, Martha Ann, by then one of New Orleans’ best-known realtors, decided that she wished to continue building the collection which had been such a source of enjoyment for over fifty years. However, there was to be a significant change in scope.
The books on New Orleans and Louisiana were sold as were the related maps and the Battle of NewOrleans prints in order to concentrate fully on the paintings. Martha Ann also selected to bring what had been an historical collection further into the twentieth century. Until that point, the paintings had represented area art up to the 1920′s but Martha Ann now wanted to look seriously at artists such as Paul Ninas, Will Henry Stevens and Noel Rockmore, among others. The standard of quality established earlier with her husband was to apply to the proposed new acquisitions. She became a frequent visitor at galleries concentrating on the work of young painters and bought enthusiastically if these members of a new generation met her discerning standards. Astute purchases were also made at benefit auctions.
Having become a recognized authority on the subject of Louisiana painting, Martha Ann Samuel enjoyed presenting lectures on her collection, becoming in the process an advocate of what was rapidly becoming an area of interest to a number of other collectors. She lectured at the New Orleans Museum of Art and other venues. The collection was made available to art lovers from Yale University and other institutions of higher learning.
Having discovered a lifelong passion in her collection, Mrs. Samuel’s will specified that upon her death the important collection was to be sold in order to bring pleasure to a wide group of collectors. Indeed, these significant paintings will bring to their new owners the same joy that Martha Ann Samuel and her husband, Ray, experienced for what stretched to nearly sixty years of intelligent, informed and discriminating collecting.
Information courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries and
John Webster Keefe
The Rosa Mary
Foundation Curator
of the Decorative Arts
New Orleans Museum of Art