These three paintings of the Seminole Tribe of Florida were hung in the lobby of the Royal Poinciana Hotel in Palm Beach. The hotel, built by Henry M. Flagler, opened on February 11, 1894. The Royal Poinciana could accommodate 200 guests, its dining room seated 1,600. The hotel, considered the largest wooden structure in the world, was in use until the 1929-1930 season. In 1936 the hotel was dismantled, the furniture and art sold, and the lumber and bricks recycled into homes and two churches that still stand in West Palm Beach today. These Seminole paintings were purchased out of the hotel that year by the Sherman family, West Palm Beach residents since 1901. I purchased them in 2020 from Christopher Sherman, a fourth generation Floridian. Chris, a graduate of Florida Atlantic University and a U. S. Navy veteran, is now a retired United Airlines pilot living in Pennsylvania. The artist, photographer Charles N. Dutton was born in Braintree, Vermont in 1865. Dutton moved to West Palm Beach in 1913. When the Palm Beach Art Club first exhibited in March 1924, the Palm Beach Post, March 18, 1924 noted: “Exhibit of Art Arouses Pride of Community. Florida scenes inspired many of the exhibits of C. N. Dutton. The portrait of the Seminole in his brightly colored garb, against a background of still water and overhanging branches of threes draped in moss, being unusually effective. The one representing a fire in the forest was greatly admired.” Dutton, a member of the Florida Federation of Art and the Palm Beach Art League, died in West Palm Beach in 1953. Exhibits: Palm Beach Art Club, March 1924, Seminole paintings; Palm Beach Art League, 25th Annual, March 1943, Hillsborough River.
Charles N. Dutton, Seminole Village, oil on canvas, 28 by 41 inches.
Charles N. Dutton, Seminole Family Campfire, 1925. Oil on canvas 34 by 50 inches.
Charles N. Dutton, Seminole Family at Lake, oil on canvas, 28 by 37 inches.
