The Franklin & Marshall College community will celebrate the life and art of the late Bill Hutson at a memorial event to be held April 1 at 1 p.m. at the Winter Arts Visual Center.
An internationally respected painter, Hutson was the Jennie Brown Cook and Betsy Hess Cook distinguished artist-in-residence and associate professor emeritus in the Department of Art, Art History and Film at F&M.
Hutson was a professor of painting at F&M for more than 20 years. He passed away from a long illness Sept. 21, 2022.
Hutson’s wide-ranging travels and long-standing relationships with other prominent contemporary artists informed his abstracted style, “giving the viewer an opportunity to contemplate a deeper interpretation of the paintings,” said Lindsay Marino, director of the Phillips Museum of Art.
-
Bill Hutson. Descending/Ascending, 2002. Acrylic and thread on canvas, 78 1/2 x 81". EC234.
-
Bill Hutson (American, 1936–2022). Found and Painted Objects. Paris and Lancaster, 1996–1997. Acrylic on wood. EC243.
-
Bill Hutson. Oba II (The Oba’s Room), Lancaster, 1995–1996. Acrylic on canvas, 40 3/8 x 39 7/8 x 3 1/8". EC214.
-
Bill Hutson. Summer Winds, New York City, 1980. Acrylic on paper, 28 7/8 x 36 5/8". EC816.
-
Bill Hutson. Tactile Series #10, Lancaster, 1998. Acrylic on canvas and wood, 9 x 14 x 6 5/8". EC189.
-
Bill Hutson. The Rain Season, New York City, 1978. Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 18". EC823.
-
Bill Hutson (American, 1936–2022). Hutson Creating Painting, 1991. Digital print, 5 x 7". EC1549.
Hutson enjoyed more than 20 solo exhibitions as an artist, including a recent citywide exhibition in his hometown of San Marcos, Texas.
When previously asked if he regarded his art as "work," Hutson responded, "It's not work, it's more like prayer – not in a religious sense, but in a meditative sense. It's about the exploration that rises out of that meditation."
Coinciding with the memorial celebration is the exhibition Color, Symbols, and Texture: The Artwork of Bill Hutson, on display at the Phillips Museum through April 27. The exhibit is drawn from a generous gift of art bestowed by Hutson in 2010. Hutson also gifted his collection of the art of many significant African American artists and related materials amassed over 50 years, now housed at Shadek-Fackenthal Library.
-
“My art, if you look at it closely, is about closeness," Hutson says. "It’s about differences between light and dark and middle and what happens to it as time passes.”
Image Credit: Deb Grove
-
!["[H]e studied art from my culture, Haitian art, which is not something you see every day," Sebastien Charles '25 said of Hutson. "Listening to him complimenting my home country and only speak good about our art really hit home for me. The art in the museum of his collections made me believe in the abilities of black artists even more and led me to take an art class in the coming years.”](https://www.fandm.edu/uploads/files/808949506351412772-11-09-bill-hutson-08-dg.0.38.1200.723.full.jpg "11 09...")
"[H]e studied art from my culture, Haitian art, which is not something you see every day," Sebastien Charles '25 said of Hutson. "Listening to him complimenting my home country and only speak good about our art really hit home for me. The art in the museum of his collections made me believe in the abilities of black artists even more and led me to take an art class in the coming years.”
Image Credit: Deb Grove
-
The late Bill Hutson speaks with students in 2021 at the Phillips Museum of Art.
Image Credit: Deb Grove