Creating Connections: Self-Taught Artists in the Rosenthal Collection Audio Exhibition
William Hawkins, (American, 1895–1990), Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? #1, circa 1986, enamel house paint, cornmeal and collage on Masonite, 48 x 56 1/2 (121.9 x 143.5 cm), Collection of Richard Rosenthal, © William Hawkins, Courtesy Ricco/Maresca Gallery
Verbal Description
Hello, my name is Liz Warren-Novick, and I am the museum’s membership and annual giving manager. I will be reading the verbal description for Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? #1 by William Hawkins in Creating Connections: Self-Taught Artists in the Rosenthal Collection.
William Hawkins painted Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? #1 around 1986, using enamel house paint, cornmeal, and collage on Masonite. An American artist, Hawkins lived from 1895 to 1990. This painting is in the collection of Richard Rosenthal.
Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? #1 is a large, almost square painting measuring 48 by 56 and one-half inches or 121.9 by 143.5 centimeters. This image shows a giant blue dinosaur that may be a Tyrannosaurus rex due to its short upper arms. He turns his head to the right and looks at the words “Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs,” written in red. The cornmeal Hawkins mixed with enamel housepaint gives the dinosaur’s body a crumbly texture. His sizeable blue tail curves up to the left, with the tip pointing to the words. A multi-branched black tree edges the right side of the picture and bends along with the tail. The dinosaur and tree stand on a sketchy ground in shades of blue, red, white, black, and yellow. A black-and-white striped border frames the painting’s top, right, and left sides. Along the bottom is a red band with the words “William.L.Hawkins…Born.KY.July.27.1895”
Label Text
Hello, my name is Liz Warren-Novick, and I am the museum’s membership and annual giving manager. I will be reading the label for Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? #1 by William Hawkins in Creating Connections: Self-Taught Artists in the Rosenthal Collection.
William Hawkins painted Did Comets Kill the Dinosaurs? #1 around 1986, using enamel house paint, cornmeal, and collage on Masonite. An American artist, Hawkins lived from 1895 to 1990. This painting is in the collection of Richard Rosenthal.
When William Hawkins moved from rural Kentucky to Columbus, Ohio, in 1916, he took on numerous menial jobs to make ends meet. Always an entrepreneur, Hawkins found creative ways to supplement his income, including making paintings that he marketed for what his clientele could afford. Hawkins had sold his art independently for nearly fifty years when a young art student convinced him to enter paintings at the Ohio State Fair, leading to New York gallery representation. From 1981 until his death, Hawkins rose to national prominence.
Hawkins’s paintings are characterized by their dramatic scale, striking aesthetic choices, bold execution, and references to popular culture. A restless experimenter, Hawkins incorporated collage and found objects into his work. Wanting to add dimension to flat surfaces, he invented a modeling paste by mixing cornmeal with paint. Hawkins worked to give each painting a sense of energy and life of its own.