By Shilpi Chandra, Assistant Curator

Alvin Carl Hollingsworth (1928–2000), also known as A. C. Hollingsworth, was a versatile and energetic artist who vividly represented the Black experience in America. Although he is best known for his comic-book illustrations created during the Golden Age of Comic Books in the 1940s and 1950s, he was well regarded during his lifetime for his painting and poetry.

Hollingsworth was a member of the influential group Spiral during the civil rights era of the 1960s. Alongside artists like Romare Bearden, Emma Amos, and Richard Mayhew, he engaged in discussions about the role of African American artists in political activism and aesthetic expression. This formative experience shaped his lifelong interest in social concerns and gave him the freedom to explore different styles. His mature paintings retained the graphic elements of comic books while incorporating figurative expressionism that celebrated Black achievement and identity.

Themes that run through Hollingsworth’s long and influential career include his commitment to contemporary African American culture, his fascination with jazz, and his celebration of Black women. And All That Jazz, the artist’s first museum exhibition in more than fifty years, represents the culmination of research around a gift of paintings, drawings, and prints by Marjorie Hollingsworth Mitchell.

Early Career

Recognized as one of the youngest creators in comic-book history, Hollingsworth started working in middle school as an art assistant at Holyoke Publishing Company. He studied at the High School of Music and Art in Harlem and, in January 1944, at age fifteen, received his first illustration credit in Crime Does Not Pay, Issue 31, a series issued by Lev Gleason Publications.^A

During these years, the youthful Hollingsworth was introduced to New York City’s music scene. After school, he could often be found at the iconic Birdland club, which booked jazz greats such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis (fig. 1), and Dizzy Gillespie.

One of the earliest instances of jazz in Hollingsworth’s work is a comic from 1948 featuring legendary composer, pianist, and bandleader Duke Ellington that was published in the first issue of Eastern Color Printing Co.’s Juke Box Comics (fig. 2). Hollingsworth felt a deep connection to and admiration for Ellington (fig. 3) and would reference him in his art throughout his career.

Through the mid-1950s, Hollingsworth was a successful comic-book artist, especially in the crime and horror genres. As the lead artist on the comic Scorchy Smith, he became one of the few Black artists to have a weekly strip in the New York Post and 140 other national newspapers. While working for commercial comic-book publishing companies, Hollingsworth was bound by the conventions of sensational storylines and stereotypical imagery. However, in 1955, while still in his mid-twenties, he was able to assert more artistic freedom by creating, authoring, and drawing a strong Black female character in his own comic strip, Kandy, which appeared weekly in The Pittsburgh Courier.

During the same period, Hollingsworth studied at the Art Students League and began to combine his early training in penciling and inking comic books with an expressive type of portraiture and syncopation in paint. This blending of techniques yielded a distinctive style all his own. He explored abstraction, then, invigorated by his participation in Spiral, returned to figural work and social themes.

Jazz Series

In the 1990s, Hollingsworth turned to a lifelong passion—jazz—as his subject, celebrating its mood and energy while drawing on a rich tradition of Black artists who explored jazz as a symbol of creativity and freedom. His Jazz series, including works like Satin Doll, Paris Blues, and Sweet Thunder (figs. 4–6), focuses on Duke Ellington. Retaining the graphic qualities of his comic-book illustrations, he developed a distinctive style to express the importance of jazz and Black identity in America. In Echoes of Harlem (fig. 7), for example, Hollingsworth presents Ellington as a floating, larger-than-life figure against a vibrant Harlem street scene featuring the legendary Cotton Club. This use of Ellington’s head to convey his presence reflects a stylistic motif from his comic-book work (fig. 8), which also appears in Paris Blues, where a commanding portrait of Ellington dominates the composition.

Hollingsworth’s backgrounds, often outlined in black with a dry ink brush, are key graphic elements in the Jazz series. In Paris Blues (fig. 5), Ellington’s face, intricately drawn in pen and ink, emerges from a bustling Parisian scene, while in Satin Doll (fig. 4), vivid colors enhance a sketched figure of Ellington playing the piano in the distance. This illustration-style approach flattens the background, directing focus to the foreground and echoing the aesthetics of comic strips. In these mature works, Hollingsworth’s masterful use of line animates the portraits with a dynamic, graphic energy.

Hollingsworth’s Jazz series serves as a powerful swan song, combining his signature subject with a distinctive technique. Though created late in his career, the series reflects a theme he had nurtured for decades. As he explained, “I listen to their recordings when I paint, and how I feel—and memories of how I felt seeing them live—actually create the paintings.”^B

In interviews and on WNBC-TV’s Positively Black, Hollingsworth spoke candidly about the challenges Black artists face in America. While acknowledging the racism he encountered, he remained confident his work would endure and be celebrated for its excellence. ^C His Jazz series reflects this resolve, blending urban commentary with a distinctive graphic style that bridges art, music, and comic illustration. Demonstrating the depth of his vision, the series captures the dynamism and determination of an artist committed to making his mark.

About the Exhibition

Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz is on view at the Hudson River Museum from December 13, 2024 through April 27, 2025.

Curated by Shilpi Chandra, Assistant Curator at the Hudson River Museum.

Exhibitions are made possible by assistance provided by the County of Westchester.

Special thanks to Marjorie Hollingsworth Mitchell and the Hollingsworth Family.