Untitled1989Frame: 52 1/2 x 50 1/2 x 2 " (133.3 x 128.3 x 5.1 cm)Enamel on woodGift of Carl D. Lobell and Kate Stettner2004.2.101544133221William L. HawkinsPaintingscenter: 'MEiCO. city. fULL.of.bargains'lower center: 'WILLIAM.LARGE.HAWKINS.BORN.KY.JULY.27.18/ 95'Mexico City Full of BargainsMexico City Full of BargainsMexico City Full of BargainsColumbusColumbusUnited StatesOhioPaintingsColumbus
Grand scale is one distinctive quality of paintings by William Hawkins; a bold, aggressive palette is another. The formal combination of the two gives a punch to Hawkins’s artworks. Like many self-taught artists, he used readily available material like salvaged wood for a support and house-paint for media, and like many he scavenged images from popular media. Even though these are common characteristics among contemporary self-taught artists, however, each artist arrives to quite a singular aesthetic through creative exploration. An African American man who learned to draw by copying from popular media sources, such as magazine illustrations, horse-auction announcements, and illustrated calendars, Hawkins started painting full time in 1983, when he was in his eighties.
Hawkins’s painterly compositions are some of the most audacious of his peers. He likes them big, bold, strong, and powerful. He packages the works as art by building frames for them (his early work, like this example, have frames comprised of scrap pieces of wood molding painted by the artist and nailed directly on to his painted panels), and by signing and dating his work. In all likelihood, Hawkins was inspired by a popular media source (a travel magazine, perhaps?) to capture this image of a “bargain city.” William Hawkins’s optimism and bold artistic vision infused his art with an immediacy and a rare communicative strength. reviewed for the IMLS Neurodiversity Project by Art Bridges Fellow Austin Losada 2026William 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.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgMexico City Full of BargainsMexico City Full of BargainsMexico City Full of BargainsMexico City Full of Bargains19891989 2004 2 1 Grand scale is one distinctive quality of paintings by William Hawkins; a bold, aggressive palette is another. The formal combination of the two gives a punch to Hawkins’s artworks. Like many self-taught artists, he used readily available material like salvaged wood for a support and house-paint for media, and like many he scavenged images from popular media. Even though these are common characteristics among contemporary self-taught artists, however, each artist arrives to quite a singular aesthetic through creative exploration. An African American man who learned to draw by copying from popular media sources, such as magazine illustrations, horse-auction announcements, and illustrated calendars, Hawkins started painting full time in 1983, when he was in his eighties.
Hawkins’s painterly compositions are some of the most audacious of his peers. He likes them big, bold, strong, and powerful. He packages the works as art by building frames for them (his early work, like this example, have frames comprised of scrap pieces of wood molding painted by the artist and nailed directly on to his painted panels), and by signing and dating his work. In all likelihood, Hawkins was inspired by a popular media source (a travel magazine, perhaps?) to capture this image of a “bargain city.” William Hawkins’s optimism and bold artistic vision infused his art with an immediacy and a rare communicative strength. reviewed for the IMLS Neurodiversity Project by Art Bridges Fellow Austin Losada 2026William 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.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.org