William L. Hawkins once said: “You have to do something wonderful so people know who you are.” Hawkins achieved that “something wonderful” through the creation of large brilliant paintings that each bear his signature and his place and date of birth emblazoned across a border or worked directly into the composition. This signature becomes an assertion of self, a refusal for the elderly African American man to be shunted aside.

Hawkins taught himself to draw by copying from popular print sources, such as magazine illustrations, horse-auction announcements, and illustrated calendars. In 1916 he moved from a horse farm in Kentucky to Columbus, Ohio, but did not start to paint full time until 1983, when he was in his eighties. Hawkins used readily available materials, such as salvaged wood for supports and house paint that he poured directly from the can. He also appropriated images from popular media that he manipulated and reinterpreted, sometimes using the source material itself as collaged elements. The early works were finished with homemade frames composed of scrap pieces of wood molding, painted by the artist and nailed onto the painted panels.

Stacy C. Hollander, "Mexico City Full of Bargains," exhibition label for Jubilation|Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2012.