William Dunlap (American/Mississippi, b. 1944) , "Mississippi - Father of Waters - History of Mud", 2006, polymer paint and gold and silver leaf on canvas, signed lower right, signed, titled and dated en verso, 40 in. x 82 in., unframed . Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist, 2006 Provenance: Estate of Julia Evans Reed. Ill.: Dunlap, William Ralph. Dunlap. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2006, p. 133. Note: Julia Reed wrote of William Dunlap “…that’s the thing about Dunlap. He’s an extraordinary painter, but he’s also a fully engaged citizen of the world.” In her article for Garden & Gun in 2010, Reed’s remarkable ability to illuminate her subjects shines when describing Dunlap – both their friendship and his celebrated career as an artist and fellow ambassador for the South. Dunlap is one of the most renowned artists creating in the South today, and his works explore the culture, literature, people, animals and landscape of the region. In this monumental work entitled “The History of Mud” from Reed’s collection (which includes a number of other paintings by the artist), a rich narrative of the South is revealed through, in Dunlap’s own words, “a post Katrina apocalyptic view of the Delta landscape with tornadoes and storm clouds hovering over the two buildings that mean the most in that part of the world, the cotton gin, now defunct and a little frame church, probably a Baptist, the sort that dot the landscape everywhere you go in our part of the world.” Often numbers or words appear in Dunlap’s compositions as if seeping from the ground and sky, and in this case, there could be no more appropriate word to tie together artist and collector than that of their common home state – Mississippi. Ref.: Reed, Julia. “The Art Ambassador.” Garden & Gun. April/May 2010. www.gardenandgun.com Accessed Dec. 17, 2020; “William Dunlap.” Greg Thompson Fine Art. www.gregthompsonfineart.com. Accessed Dec. 17, 2020.