"Madonna's Dream" by Alvin C. Hollingsworth
24 x 20 inches (image size) oil & acrylic painting on canvas panel --framed 26 x 22"
NOTE: original frame has some slight wear gilded 24 carat-gold and painting minimal foxing
Alvin C. Hollingsworth (American, 1928-2000) was born in New York City. He was a leading African-American artist and educator, who began his career as a comic book illustrator. He was also a member of the prominent Spiral group. Spiral was formed in 1963 in the New York studio of Romare Bearden. Spiral members aimed to address civil and human rights concerns and show support for the Civil Rights Movement. They did not, however, want to adhere to strict aesthetic criteria or compromise their artistic individuality. Spiral also included Norman Lewis, Hale Woodruff, Charles Alston, Emma Amos, Richard Mayhew, Reginald Gammons and others.
Hollingsworth turned to painting around 1955. His subjects included the civil rights movement, women, the life he knew in the city, jazz and more, and captured them as both abstract and representational art. He painted a series of murals for an apartment building in the Bronx, NY, called the Don Quixote, along with lithographs mimicking them.
He received a fine arts degree from the City College of New York. Hollingsworth taught at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York. Hollingsworth was also a professor of art at the City University of New York for nearly 20 years, retiring in 1998. He died in 2000.
