Hudson River Museum Presents Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz

The Hudson River Museum is proud to present Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz, on view from December 13, 2024–April 27, 2025. This exhibition brings together never-before-seen paintings, prints, and illustrations by Alvin C. Hollingsworth that were recently donated to the Museum by Marjorie Hollingsworth Mitchell, as well as loans from local collectors. 
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. Themes that run through the artist’s long and influential career include his fascination with jazz, his celebration of Black women, and his origins in illustration. This museum exhibition, the first in more than fifty years, presents an intimate look into a slice of Hollingsworth’s prodigious creative output through paintings, prints, comics, and related ephemera.

Paris Blues by Alvin C. Hollingsworth 

Hollingsworth had a noteworthy start as a comic-book artist during the Golden Age of Comics in the 1940s and 1950s before turning to other mediums. His subsequent paintings retained some of these graphic elements while also branching out into figurative expressionism and abstraction. Hollingsworth was a member of the influential Spiral artist collective during the civil rights era of the 1960s. He and other members of the collective questioned African American artists’ obligation to engage artistically in political activism as opposed to pure aesthetics. This formative experience led to a lifelong interest in social concerns and gave him the freedom to explore different styles.
 
Shilpi Chandra, HRM’s Assistant Curator, states: “Alvin C. Hollingsworth broke many barriers during a fertile artistic career that spanned five decades. We are grateful to Marjorie Hollingsworth Mitchell and the Hollingsworth family for this gift of more than thirty works, which allows us to present this exhibition and highlight Hollingsworth’s significant and fascinating career.”
 
A committed educator, Hollingsworth taught at the Art Students League, through a 1970s TV show You’re Part of Art on NBC, and for thirty years at Hostos Community College as a professor of art. Born and raised in Harlem, he moved to Hastings-on-Hudson in the early 1970s with his family, where he resided until his death in 2000, while continuing to maintain a studio in Lower Manhattan. 

Related Programs

Sunday, January 12, 2pm
Curator Tour of Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz
Who was Alvin C. Hollingsworth? A comic book artist? Painter? Poet? Jazz aficionado? If you guessed all of the above, you would be correct. Join HRM Assistant Curator Shilpi Chandra for a tour of Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz and learn about the legacy of this multifaceted artist. Learn about the history of comic books and jazz music and how the social movements of the 60s and 70s uniquely shaped Hollingsworth’s artistic style.

Friday, February 7, 5–8pm
Free First Fridays: Clifton Anderson & Co.
Clifton Anderson is considered one of the leading trombonists and composers performing in jazz today. His performances embody the fertile and varied history of his musical experiences working with musical giants, from Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, and Slide Hampton to Stevie Wonder, Keith Richards, and Paul Simon. His performances incorporate a variety of musical styles—from swing to contemporary and Caribbean grooves to American Songbook selections. Clifton's stellar sextet will be performing two sets, at 5:30 and 6:45pm.

Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

Sunday, February 23, 1:30–4pm
How Abstract Sounds
Celebrate Black History Month and enjoy an afternoon of cool jazz and conversation with art historian Bentley Brown and musical greats Edsel Gomez and Felipe Luciano. They will explore the pioneering role of Black artists and Black creative spaces within New York City’s contemporary art movements of the late 1960s through the mid 1980s, with reference to works in Alvin C. Hollingsworth: And All That Jazz and It Takes 2: Unexpected Pairings. Learn how visual artists were engaged in expanding abstraction  and framing it as an interdisciplinary language of openness, or what we might call “jazz.” 

Support provided by Art Bridges.

Images: Alvin C. Hollingsworth (American, 1928–2000). Paris Blues, 1993–94 and Satin Doll, ca. 1994. Painting on board. Collection of the Hudson River Museum. Gift of Marjorie Hollingsworth Mitchell, 2021 (2021.13.6).

The Hudson River Museum is a preeminent cultural institution in Westchester County and the New York metropolitan area. The Museum is situated on the banks of the Hudson River in Yonkers, New York, with a mission to engage, inspire, and connect diverse communities through the power of the arts, sciences, and history.

The HRM offers engaging experiences for every age and interest, with an ever-evolving collection of American art and dynamic exhibitions that range from notable nineteenth-century paintings to contemporary art installations. The campus, which recently expanded to include a West Wing with exhibition galleries and sweeping views of the Hudson River, features Glenview, an 1877 house on the National Register of Historic Places; a state-of-the-art planetarium; an environmental teaching gallery; and an outdoor amphitheater. The Museum is dedicated to collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting these multidisciplinary offerings, which are complemented by an array of public programs that encourage creative expression, collaboration, and artistic and scientific discovery. The Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums (AAM), an honor awarded to only 3% of museums nationwide. 

Hours and Admission: The Hudson River Museum is open to the public Wednesday–Friday, from 12–5pm, and Saturday–Sunday, from 11am–5pm. On Free First Fridays, the Museum is open and free of charge on the first Friday of the month, from 5–8pm. Learn more and purchase tickets at hrm.org/visit.

General Admission: Adults $13; Youth (3–18) $8; Seniors (65+) $9; Students (with valid ID) $9; Veterans $9; Children (under 3) FREE; Members FREE; Museums for All* $2, *SNAP/EBT card with photo ID (up to 4 people). Planetarium tickets: Adults $7; Youth (3–18) $5; Seniors (65+) $6; Students (with valid ID) $6; Veterans $6; Children (under 3) Free. Glenview tours: Adults $7; Youth (3–18) $5; Seniors (65+) $6; Students (with valid ID) $6; Veterans $6; Children (under 3) Free. The Museum is accessible by Metro-North (Hudson Line—Yonkers and Glenview stations), by Bee-Line Bus Route #1, by car, and by bike. If you plan on taking Metro-North Railroad to Glenwood Station and want to leave your car behind, you can save on discounted round-trip rail fare and discounted admission by getting an MTA Away package. More details here!