William R. Hollingsworth, Jr.
| William R. Hollingsworth, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 17, 1910 Jackson, Mississippi |
| Died |
August 01, 1944 Jackson, Mississippi |
| Resting place |
Cedarlawn Cemetery Jackson, Mississippi |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Religion | Baptist |
| Spouse(s) | Jane Oakley Hollingsworth |
| Children | Billy Hollingsworth |
| Parent(s) |
William Hollingsworth, Sr. Willie Belle Van Zile Hollingsworth |
William R. Hollingsworth, Jr. (1910-1944) was an American painter.
Biography
Early life
William R. Hollingsworth, Jr. was born on February 17, 1910 in Jackson, Mississippi.[1][2] His father was William Hollingsworth, Sr., and his mother, Willie Belle Van Zile Hollingsworth; she died when he was less than one year old.[2] He attended public schools and the First Baptist Church in Jackson[2] and the University of Mississippi for two years and then transferred to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, graduating in 1934.[1][2]
Career
He returned to Jackson, Mississippi after failing to find work in Chicago during the Great Depression.[2] He worked for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration during the day and painted at night.[2] Later, his wife worked as a dressmaker to support them while he focused on being a full-time painter.[2] In 1942, during the Second World War, he tried to enlist in the United States Navy, but his application was rejected due to "poor eyesight" within two weeks.[2]
As a painter, he painted many oil paintings and watercolors.[1] In terms of style, he was inspired by French impressionist painters Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) and Henri Matisse (1869–1954).[2] Many of his paintings showed the lives of black people in West Jackson during segregation.[2] He painted the Mississippi landscape, and sunsets and sunrises.[2] He won prizes from the Chicago Arts Club, the Southern States Art League and the National Watercolor Society.[1]
Some of his paintings are exhibited at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Mississippi.[3] Author Eudora Welty (1909–2001) wrote a book about him, published posthumously in 2002.[2]
Personal life
He was married to Jane (Oakley) Hollingsworth, from Moline, Illinois.[2] They had a son, Billy.[2]
After years of depression and alcoholism, he committed suicide on August 1, 1944, at the age of thirty-four.[1][2] He was buried in the Cedarlawn Cemetery in Jackson, Mississippi.[1]
Selected paintings
- Siesta (1937).[2]
- Sudden Shower (1937).[2]
- High Farish (1941).[2]
- Brown and Wet (1942).[2]
- December (1943).[2]
- The Ice-Covered Tree (1943).[2]
- Ah, the Mystery of a Southern Night (1943).[2]
Secondary sources
- Hollingsworth, Jane Oakley (ed.), and O. C. McDavid (ed.), Hollingsworth: The Man, the Artist, and His Work (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 1981).[2]
- Welty, Eudora, On William Hollingsworth (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2002).[2]
- Dietrick, Robin C, and Gruber, J. Richard, To Paint and Pray: The Art and Life of William R. Hollingsworth, Jr. (Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2012).[4]