Collection Summary
Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983
Tennessee Williams Art Collection
circa 1928-1980
AR-00299
2 boxes, 5 framed paintings, 1 framed print
(39 items)
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin,
The collection consists of paintings, drawings, and prints by
and related to Tennessee Williams. Art by Williams includes twenty-six paintings of still
lifes, landscapes, and portraits of his friends, including a few paintings from his
childhood years.
No linguistic material
Acquisition:
Purchases, 1966-2019 (R2913, R1963, R5900, 19-09-018-P); gifts, 1966-2003 (G12245,
G10499)
Access:
Open for research. Please note that a minimum of 24 hours notice is required to pull Art
Collection materials to the Ransom Center's Reading and Viewing Room. Some materials may be
restricted from viewing. To make an appointment or to reserve Art Collection materials,
please contact the Center's staff at art@hrc.utexas.edu. Researchers must create an online
Research Account and agree to the Materials Use Policy before using archival materials.
Use Policies:
Ransom Center collections may contain material with sensitive or confidential information
that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers
are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living
individuals represented in the collections without the consent of those individuals may have
legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may
arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed
highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the Ransom Center and The University of
Texas at Austin assume no responsibility.
Restrictions on Use:
Authorization for publication is given on behalf of the University of Texas as the owner of
the collection and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder
which must be obtained by the researcher. For more information please see the Ransom
Center's Open Access and Use Policies.
Index Terms
People
Beaton, Cecil, 1904-1980.
Benton, Thomas Hart, 1889-1975.
Jones, Liza.
Kinstler, Everett Raymond.
Magnani, Anna, 1908-1973.
Safran, Bernard, 1924- .
Williams, Tennessee, 1911-1983.
Subjects
Dramatists, American.
Portrait painting.
Document Types
Caricatures.
Drawings.
Landscape paintings.
Paintings.
Self-portraits.
Preferred Citation
Tennessee Williams Art Collection (AR-00389). Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas
at Austin.
Processed by:
Alice Egan, 1997, Helen Young, 2001, and Mary Alice Harper, 2019
Biographical Sketch
The playwright Tennessee Williams was born Thomas Lanier Williams, III, on March 26, 1911,
in Columbus, Mississippi, to Cornelius Coffin and Edwina Dakin Williams. He spent his early
childhood in Mississippi and Tennessee before his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in
1918. Williams started writing at an early age, and he showed early artistic ability. He
briefly attended the University of Missouri and Washington University in St. Louis before
graduating from the University of Iowa in 1938. A few months after graduation, he moved to
New Orleans, where he soon became friends with a clarinetist, Jim Parrott. In early 1939,
Williams went with Parrott to Los Angeles hoping to find a screenwriting job and briefly
worked on Parrott’s uncle’s pigeon farm. During this time he also received art lessons from
Parrott’s mother Adelaide, a WPA art instructor, who was impressed by Williams’ artistic
talent. After this, Williams sketched and painted often, and he continued to do so for the
rest of his life. For subjects, he turned to his mother Edwina, his sister Rose, and
friends, including Jim Parrott. As his writing career developed he also painted characters
from his plays. Later in life while living in Key West, Florida, Williams received further
lessons from Henry Faulkner, with whom he also exhibited works. At this point he also
created limited edition portfolios which he sold in New York through Gotham Book Mart.
In March of 1939, Williams won a $100 Group Theatre Prize for five one-act plays, which
were later published in 1948 as
American Blues, as well as a
$1,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation for Battle of Angels. He gained even greater success with The Glass Menagerie in 1944. His plays A Streetcar Named Desire (1947) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) both won Pulitzer Prizes. Other
successful plays included Suddenly Last Summer (1958),
Sweet Bird of Youth (1959), and Night of the Iguana (1961). Williams also wrote two novels, film
scripts, poetry, essays, short stories, and his autobiography, Memoirs (1975). He died February 25, 1983, in New York City.
Sources:
Leverich, L.
Tom, the Unknown Tennessee Williams. New York: W. W.
Norton, 1995.
Tennessee Williams.Contemporary Authors, New Revision
Series, vol. 31, ed. J. G. Lewniak. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1990.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of paintings, drawings, and prints by and related to the playwright
Tennessee Williams (American, 1911-1983). The collection is divided into the following
series: I. Works by Tennessee Williams, 1928-1947, 1981, undated; II. Portraits of Tennessee
Williams by Other Artists, 1962, undated; and III. Works Related to Tennessee Williams,
1940s-1980, undated.
Series I. is comprised of twenty-six paintings and drawings of still lifes, landscapes, and
portraits Williams made of his friends, including a few paintings from his childhood years.
One of the paintings, "By that time Summer and Smoke were past...," takes its title from a
line in Hart Crane's poem,
Emblems of Conduct. The works in
this series are arranged by accession number. Series II. consists of four portraits of
Williams created by various artists, and they are arranged alphabetically by artist surname.
Series III., Works Related to Tennessee Williams, includes a portrait of Williams' maternal
grandfather, Dr. Dakin; a dust jacket design by Cecil Beaton for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone; a preliminary sketch by Thomas Hart
Benton for his painting The Poker Night, which was used
on the cover of the Signet paperback edition of Streetcar Named Desire; and drawings of Williams' dog, Buffo, by the
actress Anna Magnani, who won an Oscar for her role in the screen version of The Rose Tattoo. These works are arranged alphabetically by artist
surname.
Additional portraits of Tennessee Williams, also held in the Art Collection, include works
by Don Bachardy, David Levine, Emanuel Romano, and David Schorr. Extensive Tennessee
Williams manuscript holdings are held in the Tennessee Williams Collection (MS-04535) and in
several smaller collection. Photographs by and of Williams can be found in Tennessee
Williams Literary File Photography Collection (PH-02858) and in other Literary Files of the
Photography Collection (PH-00281).
Tennessee Williams Art Collection--Item List
Series I. Works by Tennessee Williams, 1928-1947, 1981, undated
1.1
65.399.1
Williams, Tennessee (attributed). [Jim Parrott?],
1939?
Watercolor, 45.5 x 30.4 cm.
1.2
65.399.2
Williams, Tennessee. [Tennessee Williams,
self-portrait],
1939.
Oil on paperboard, 30.4 x 20.7 cm.
1.3
65.399.3
Williams, Tennessee (attributed). [Fred Parrott or
Walter Willard "Spud" Johnson],
1939?
Oil on paperboard, 35.5 x 22.8 cm.
1.4
65.399.4
Williams, Tennessee (attributed). [James Merle or Frank
Merlo],
undated.
Oil on paperboard, 30.4 x 21 cm.
1.5
2003.1.0001
Williams, Tennessee. [Frank Merlo],
undated.
Oil on canvas board, 50.1 x 40.4 cm.
1.6
65.399.5
Williams, Tennessee. Jim,
1939?
Oil on paperboard, 30.3 x 20.9 cm.
1.7
65.399.6
Williams, Tennessee. [Jim Parrott?],
undated.
Oil on paperboard, 30.5 x 25.5 cm.
1.8
65.399.7
Williams, Tennessee. [Still life],
undated.
Oil on board, 20.8 x 30.2 cm.
1.9
65.399.8
Williams, Tennessee. [Prancing horse with vase],
undated.
Oil on board, 25.4 x 30.5 cm.
1.10
65.399.9
Williams, Tennessee (attributed). [Landscape],
undated.
Oil on masonite, 22.8 x 30.1 cm.
1.11
65.399.10
Williams, Tennessee (attributed). [Tropical scene at
night],
circa 1928.
Oil on linen, 27.9 x 31.2 cm.
1.12
65.399.11
Williams, Tennessee. [Winter landscape],
before 1939.
Oil on paper, 9.2 x 12.7 cm.
1.12
65.399.12
Williams, Tennessee. [Spring landscape],
before 1939.
Oil on paper, 9.9 x 12.2 cm.
1.12
65.399.13
Williams, Tennessee. [Summer landscape],
before 1939.
Oil on paper, 8.4 x 9.9 cm.
2.1
65.399.14
Williams, Tennessee (attributed). [Landscape],
undated.
Oil on board, 25.9 x 40.3 cm.
2.2
65.399.15
Williams, Tennessee. Purification [2 female figures, 1
male figure],
undated.
Ink on coated board, 28.3 x 17.8 cm.
Screen Storage
66.36.1
Williams, Tennessee. [Tennessee Williams,
self-portrait],
undated.
Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 29.5 cm (visible image); 59 x 50 cm
(frame).
2.3
66.36.2
Williams, Tennessee. [Unidentified woman],
1947?
Oil on canvas board, 40.3 x 30.1 cm.
Screen Storage
66.36.3
Williams, Tennessee. [Pancho Rodriguez],
undated.
Oil on canvas board, 39.5 x 29.5 cm (visible image); 59 x 50 cm
(frame).
2.4
66.36.4
Williams, Tennessee. [Male dancer],
1947?
Oil on canvas board, 50.1 x 40 cm.
2.5
66.36.5
Williams, Tennessee. [Standing jester],
1947?
Oil on canvas board, 50.1 x 40 cm.
Screen Storage
66.36.6
Williams, Tennessee. By that time Summer and Smoke were
past...,
circa 1947.
Oil on canvas, 39.5 x 49.5 cm (visible image); 42.5 x 53 cm
(frame).
2.6
2006.1
Williams, Tennessee. The Vogue of the Wide Tie [head
profile of man facing left],
undated
Pencil, 15.2 x 10.1 cm.
2.7
73.390
Williams, Tennessee. Criswell,
undated.
Pencil, 27.8 x 21.5 cm.
Screen Storage
94.12
Williams, Tennessee. [Crucifixion],
undated.
Oil on canvas, 24.5 x 19.5 cm (visible image); 37.5 x 32.5 cm
(frame).
Screen Storage
2019:0021:0001
Williams, Tennessee. Evening in the Studio,
1981.
Acrylic on canvas, 54.6 x 69.8 cm (visible image); 56.2 x 71.3
(canvas on original stretcher); 64.9 x 80.1 cm (frame).
Series II. Portraits of Tennessee Williams by Other Artists, 1962, undated
Screen Storage
97.17
Kinstler, Everett Raymond. The Violets in the Mountains
… [design with face portrait of Williams, with quote from Camino Real; V/L],
1975.
Color lithograph, 55.7 x 40 cm (visible image); 81.9 x 61 cm
(frame).
2.8
65.483
Safran, Bernard (attributed). [Tennessee Williams],
circa 1962.
Black crayon on paper, with white correction fluid or paint, 24.8
x 21.2 cm.
2.9
84.30
Safran, Bernard. Tennessee Williams [Time magazine cover],
published 9 March 1962.
Color reproductive print, 25.3 x 20.3 cm.
2.10
73.342
Unidentified artist. [Caricature of Tennessee Williams],
undated.
Watercolor, 24 x 20.1 cm.
Series III. Works Related to Tennessee Williams, 1940s-1980, undated
2.11
73.161
Beaton, Cecil. The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone,
1950s?
Color ink, crayon, and gouache, 36.2 x 28.2
cm.
2.12
73.159
Benton, Thomas Hart. The Poker Night,
1948.
Pencil and ink, 18.5 x 21 cm.
2.13
97.20
Jones, Liza. Snowfall [with poem of the same title by Tennessee Williams],
1980.
Color etching, 17.5 x 24.7 cm (image); 37.5 x 57.5 cm
(sheet).
2.14
77.38.1
Magnani, Anna. Buffo! [Tennessee Williams' dog],
circa 1960.
Pencil, 21 x 29.5 cm.
2.14
77.38.2
Magnani, Anna. Buffo! [Tennessee Williams' dog],
circa 1960.
Pencil, 13.5 x 10.2 cm.
2.15
65.482
B. A. [Unidentified artist]. Dr. Dakin [Tennessee Williams' grandfather],
undated.
Pencil, 20.7 x 27.9 cm.
2.16
84.89
Unidentified artist. The Trade Winds, Key West, Florida,
likely 1940s or later.
Woodcut, 8.3 x 13.9 cm.
2.17
68.77.1
Unidentified artist. The Night of the Iguana,
1961?
Color poster, 56 x 35.7 cm.
2.17
68.77.2
Unidentified artist. The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here
Anymore,
1964?
Color poster, 56.1 x 35.7 cm.