Third and Rhode Island

From the front windows of her LeDroit Park home in Washington, DC, Hilda Wilkinson Brown painted Rhode Island Avenue in wintertime. Brown's palette of cool blues and muted pinks puts a chill in the air. Warm yellow light radiates from windows along the street, punctuating the gloomy scene. Bold lines segment the painting and introduce hints of abstraction.

Brown painted many scenes of LeDroit Park, as well as portraits of its residents. The neighborhood, which borders Howard University, was home to many prominent African American politicians, educators, and artists during the first half of the twentieth century. The star-studded list includes suffragist and educator Mary Church Terrell, poet Paul Laurence Dunbar, and General Benjamin O. Davis Sr., the first African American general.