Jessie Drew-Bear, Adam and Eve

On the back of this painting, Drew-Bear wrote the title Eve in Garden of Eden and/or Adam and Eve, suggesting that, at one point, she contemplated a depiction of Eve without Adam. She gave the date for the work as 1938–50, implying that she worked on or revisited the painting over a twelve-year period.

Drew-Bear often portrayed biblical subjects, and was comfortable inserting additional characters into the narrative. Here, a small minstrel stands between the two central figures. He is costumed from head to toe and clutches a musical instrument. Perhaps the artist felt that Eden would not be a blissful paradise without music.