Born July 27, 1895, Kentucky; died 1990, Dayton, Ohio
William Hawkins grew up on his grandmother’s farm outside of Union City, Ky., alongside his father and younger brother. Only receiving formal education through the third grade, Hawkins spent the majority of his adolescence working on the farm; he maintained and managed equipment, cared for animals and trained horses. There, he was surrounded by his grandmother’s memorable quilts and decorated home, which served as later inspiration for his work. He began to draw at a young age, collecting inspiration from auction catalogs, newspapers and advertisements—a method he carried into his artistic practice as an adult.
At the age of 21, his girlfriend became pregnant, and his family sent him to live with relatives in Columbus. Not long after, during WWI, he was drafted into the army, where he served in an all-black regiment. After returning to the city, he worked as a carpenter, plumber, truck driver and house painter. Although Hawkins created art throughout his working life, it wasn’t until retirement that he was able to fully devote himself to painting. Initially, his art-making relied on found materials, including leftover house paint, found cardboard and plywood. Then, in his eighties, he began to receive acclaim. With financial support from selling his work, he started using store-bought enamel and masonite and greatly expandedthe size of his pieces. He indulged in adornment and texture, incorporating found objects, glitter, collageand cornmeal to thicken the paint.
Hawkins flattened objects and sights into puzzle-like pieces within already-compartmentalized compositions. His work evokes memories of historic moments, captures cities at their finest and animals at their most imaginative. In the last 10 years of his life, Hawkins gained gallery representation, numerous exhibitions and an international following. He suffered a stroke in 1989 and passed away the following year.
—Emily Q. Slavin, Intuit Art Museum curatorial fellow
