Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,
University of Texas at Austin
Williams,
Tennessee, 1911-1983.
The art collection consists of
paintings, drawings, and prints by and related to Tennessee Williams. The
collection is divided into the following series: I., Works by Tennessee
Williams; II., Portraits of Tennessee Williams by Other Artists; and III.,
Works Related to Tennessee Williams.
Tennessee
Williams Art Collection
ca. 1928-1980
bulk
1930s-1970s
2 boxes, 4
framed paintings (35 items)
TXRC99-A14
Acquisition:
Purchases (R2913, R1963, R5900), and gift
Access:
A minimum of twenty-four hours is required to pull art
materials to the Reading Room
Processed by:
Alice Egan, 1997, and Helen Young, 2001
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 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 and briefly
worked at a shoe store and on Parrott's uncle's pigeon farm. During this time
he also received art lessons from Adelaide Parrott, a WPA art instructor, who
was impressed by Williams' artistic talent.
In March of 1939, Williams won a Group Theatre award with
American Blues, and gained
greater success with
The Glass Menagerie in 1944. His
plays
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947),
and
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955) 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.
J. G. Lewniak, ed.
Tennessee Williams. Contemporary Authors,
New Revision Series,
Vol. 31, pp. 460-470.
Detroit: Gale Research, Inc.,
1990.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of paintings, drawings, and prints by
and related to Tennessee Williams. The collection is divided into the following
series: I., Works by Tennessee Williams; II., Portraits of Tennessee Williams
by Other Artists; and III., Works Related to Tennessee Williams.
Series I. is comprised of 22 paintings of still lifes,
landscapes, and portraits Williams made of his friends, including a few
paintings from his childhood years. These works are arranged by accession
number. Series II. consists of three portraits of Tennessee Williams. Series
III., Works Related to Tennessee Williams, includes a portrait of Tennessee
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 a
drawing of Tennessee 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.
Additional portraits of Tennessee Williams, also held in the
Art Collection, include works by Don Bachardy, David Levine, Emanuel Romano,
and David Schorr. The Ransom Center also holds extensive Tennessee Williams'
manuscripts and books in the Manuscripts Collection and Library
respectively.
Index Terms:
Correspondents
Atkinson,
Brooks, 1894-.
Barnes,
Margaret Fawcett, 1896-1980.
Bentley,
Eric, 1916-.
Bigelow,
Paul.
Bowles,
Paul.
Brown,
Andreas.
Brownlow,
Isabel Williams.
Campbell,
Sandy.
Conkle, E.P.
(Ellsworth Prouty).
Conroy, Jack,
1899-.
Crawford,
Cheryl, 1902-1986.
Cronyn, Hume,
1902-1986.
Dakin, Rosina
Otte.
Dakin, Walter
Edwin.
De Rochemont,
Louis, 1899-1978.
Dowling,
Eddie.
Evans, Oliver
Wendell, 1915-.
Freeman,
Lucy.
Glavin,
William M.
Hazan,
Joseph.
Holland,
Williard.
Isherwood,
Christopher, 1904-.
Jones,
Margo.
Kazan,
Elia.
Kazan, Molly
Thatcher.
Langner,
Lawrence, 1890-.
Laughlin,
James.
Liebling,
William.
MacGregor,
Robert.
Magnani,
Anna.
Maxwell,
Gilbert.
Mayorga,
Margaret (Margaret Gardner).
McClintic,
Guthrie, 1893-1961.
McCullers,
Carson, 1917-1967.
Merlo,
Frank.
Olivier,
Laurence, 1907-.
Porter,
Katherine Anne, 1890-1980.
Rodriguez Y
Gonzalez, Pancho.
Saher, Lilla
van.
Selznick,
Irene Mayer, 1907-.
Sykes, Buffie
Johnson.
Vaccaro,
Marion Black.
Wallach, Eli,
1915-.
Williams,
Cornelius Coffin.
Williams,
Dakin.
Williams,
Edwina Dakin.
Williams,
Rose Isabel.
Willits,
Malcolm.
Windham,
Don.
Wood, Audrey,
1905-.
York,
Michael, 1939-.
Organizations
Liebling-Wood.
Warner Bros.
Pictures.
Subjects
American drama,
20th century
Dramatists,
American, 20th century.
Williams
family.
Document Types
Bibliographies.
Biographies.
Christmas
cards.
First
drafts.
Galley
proofs.
Journals.
Legal
instruments.
Notebooks.
Photographs.
Playbills.
Postcards.
Scores.
Scrapbooks.
Scripts.
Video
recordings.
Tennessee Williams--Item List
I. Works by Tennessee Williams,
1928-1947, n.d.
Williams, Tennessee
(attributed)
[Jim Parrott?].
1939?
painting: watercolor
45.5 x 30.4 cm.
1
1
65.399.1
Williams,
Tennessee
[Tennessee Williams,
self-portrait].
1939
painting: oil on
paperboard 30.4 x 20.7 cm.
1
2
65.399.2
Williams, Tennessee
(attributed)
[Fred Parrott?].
1939?
painting: oil on
paperboard 35.5 x 22.8 cm.
1
3
65.399.3
Williams,
Tennessee?
[James Merle or Frank
Merlo].
n.d.
painting: oil on
paperboard 30.4 x 21 cm.
1
4
65.399.4
Williams,
Tennessee
Jim.
1939?
painting: oil on
paperboard 30.3 x 20.9 cm.
1
5
65.399.5
Williams,
Tennessee
[Jim Parrott?].
n.d.
painting: oil on
paperboard 30.5 x 25.5 cm.
1
6
65.399.6
Williams,
Tennessee
[Still life].
n.d.
painting: oil on board
20.8 x 30.2 cm.
1
7
65.399.7
Williams,
Tennessee
[Prancing horse with
vase].
n.d.
painting: oil on board
25.4 x 30.5 cm.
1
8
65.399.8
Williams,
Tennessee?
[Landscape].
n.d.
painting: oil on
masonite 22.8 x 30.1 cm.
1
9
65.399.9
Williams, Tennessee
(attributed)
[Tropical scene at night].
ca. 1928
painting: oil on linen
27.9 x 31.2 cm.
1
10
65.399.10
Williams,
Tennessee
[Winter landscape].
before 1939
painting: oil on paper
9.2 x 12.7 cm.
1
11
65.399.11
Williams,
Tennessee
[Spring landscape].
before 1939
painting: oil on paper
9.9 x 12.2 cm.
1
11
65.399.12
Williams,
Tennessee
[Summer landscape].
before 1939
painting: oil on paper
8.4 x 9.9 cm.
1
11
65.399.13
Williams,
Tennessee?
[Landscape].
n.d.
painting: oil on board
25.9 x 40.3 cm.
1
12
65.399.14
Williams,
Tennessee
Purification [2 female figures, 1 male
figure].
n.d.
drawing: ink on coated
board 28.3 x 17.8 cm.
1
13
65.399.15
Williams,
Tennessee
[Tennessee Williams,
self-portrait].
n.d.
painting: oil on canvas
visible image 39.5 x 29.5 cm., in frame 59 x 50
cm.
FAC Vault (Screen)
66.36.1
Williams,
Tennessee
[Unidentified woman].
1947?
painting: oil on canvas
board 40.3 x 30.1 cm.
2
1
66.36.2
Williams,
Tennessee
[Pancho Rodriguez].
n.d.
painting: oil on canvas
board visible image 39.5 x 29.5 cm., in frame 59 x 50
cm.
FAC Vault (Screen)
66.36.3
Williams,
Tennessee
[Male dancer].
1947?
painting: oil on canvas
board 50.1 x 40 cm.
2
2
66.36.4
Williams,
Tennessee
[Standing jester].
1947?
painting: oil on canvas
board 50.1 x 40 cm.
2
3
66.36.5
Williams,
Tennessee.
By the time Summer and Smoke were
past.
ca. 1947
painting: oil on canvas
visible image 39.5 x 49.5 cm., in frame 42.5 x 53
cm.
FAC Vault (Shelf)
66.36.6
Williams,
Tennessee.
Criswell.
n.d.
drawing: pencil
27.8 x 21.5 cm.
2
4
73.390
Williams,
Tennessee
[Crucifixion].
n.d.
painting: oil on canvas
visible image 24.5 x 19.5 cm., in frame 37.5 x 32.5
cm.
FAC Vault (Shelf)
94.12
II. Portraits of Tennessee Williams by
Other Artists,
1962, n.d.
Safran,
Bernard(?)
[Tennessee Williams, Time Magazine
cover portrait, preliminary drawing].
1962?
drawing: crayon
24.8 x 21.2 cm.
2
5
65.483
Safran,
Bernard.
Tennessee Williams [Time Magazine
cover portrait].
1962 March 9
reproductive print: col.
25.3 x 20.3 cm.
2
6
84.30
Unidentified
[Tennessee Williams,
caricature].
n.d.
painting: watercolor
24 x 20.1 cm.
2
7
73.342
III. Works Related to Tennessee Williams,
1948-1980, n.d.
Beaton, Cecil,
Sir.
The Roman Spring of Mrs.
Stone.
195-?
drawing: ink, crayon,
and gouache, col. 36.2 x 28.2 cm.
2
9
73.161
Benton, Thomas
Hart.
The Poker Night.
1948
drawing: pencil and ink
18.5 x 21 cm.
2
10
73.159
Jones,
Liza.
Snowfall [with poem by Tennessee
Williams].
1980
print: etching, col.
17.5 x 24.7 cm., on sheet 37.5 x 57.5 cm.
2
11
97.20
Magnani,
Anna.
Buffo! [Tennessee Williams'
dog].
n.d.
drawings: pencil
21 x 29.5 cm.; 13.5 x 10.2 cm.
2
12
77.38.1-.2
[Unidentified]
B.A.
Dr. Dakin [Tennessee Williams'
grandfather]
n.d.
drawing: pencil
20.7 x 27.9 cm.
2
8
65.482
Unidentified.
The Trade Winds, Key West,
Florida.
n.d.
print: woodcut, b&w
8.3 x 13.9 cm.
2
13
84.89
Unidentified.
The Night of the Iguana.
1961?
print: poster, col.
56 x 35.7 cm.
2
14
68.77.1
Unidentified.
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here
Anymore.
1964?
print: poster, col.
56.1 x 35.7 cm.
2
14
68.77.2