Tennessee Williams is considered one of the greatest American playwrights and was immensely popular in the mid-to-late 20th century. Works such as A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof captivated audiences in America and around the world. Less well known about the Pulitzer-prize winning playwright is that he also was an avid painter, whose subjects often echoed the themes of loneliness and social taboos explored in his writing. Although Williams’ technique is largely panned by art critics, the paintings are also valued for their creativity and the insight they provide into his life.
Kenneth Holditch, a member of the Rhodes Class of 1955 and a long-time English professor at the University of New Orleans, dedicated much of his life to studying the works of Williams. In addition to starting a Tennessee Williams literary journal and authoring several scholarly works on the playwright, he helped establish the first Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans in 1987 and later went on to found festivals in his home state of Mississippi.
After Holditch’s death in 2022, his estate bequeathed a collection of seven Tennessee Williams paintings to Rhodes, and in fall 2024 the college loaned five of the paintings to the Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival. Rosie Meindl, visual resources coordinator, and Somerset Alley, studio technician in the Department of Art, traveled to Clarksdale, MS, to install the works for the festival. Originally scheduled for Oct. 17-24, the exhibit was so popular its run was extended to the first week of November.
Archiving the works and preparing the collection provided Rhodes students the opportunity to gain practical experience in the art world by researching, cataloging, photographing, and labeling the paintings.
As the student associate in the Visual Resources Center, senior studio art major Echo O’Connor was involved in collecting data, documenting artwork, and conducting research. “As an artist, I had a great time with this project because it is fulfilling to help anyone who sees these works to know a little bit more about who made them,” she said. “I loved engaging with these paintings, especially in thinking about how his visual art intersects with his other works.”
In addition, O’Connor created detailed database entries for each piece in the festival and even drafted the paperwork that facilitated the loan. She learned how to properly store and transport art, as well as how to create a professional art exhibition. O’Connor said one of her favorite experiences was writing the descriptions for the paintings, where she got to flex her studio art education:
“Tennessee Williams’ paintings reveal an intimate and less known aspect of his art, as he isn’t known for his paintings. They are very important to understanding the complexity of his creative practice, offering a deeply personal perspective. These paintings seem to have a lot of emotional intensity and deal with themes of vulnerability and human connection. In each piece, you can sense a bit of the poetic language and dramatic touch that define his plays, making these works a visual extension of his storytelling.”
O’Connor is the curator for the upcoming Tennessee Williams exhibit at Rhodes’ Clough-Hanson Gallery from January 31-March 29, titled “Tennessee Williams: Paintings of Love and Loss.”