Manning Williams: Reinventing Narrative Painting

Manning Williams’s paintings are rooted in the history, traditions, and terrain of the South Carolina Lowcountry. A Charleston native and lifelong resident, Williams (American, 1939—2012) earned degrees from the College of Charleston and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His highly personal approach to realist painting emphasized storytelling and was fueled by an interest in portraying subjects that he found on the periphery of the city and along the barrier islands. Western subjects also commanded Williams’s attention, and during the later years of his career his concern with narrative was expressed in a more abstract style. Reinventing Narrative Painting features thirty paintings from Williams’s prolific career that spanned more than forty years.

This exhibition is sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Post & Courier, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, Anson Restaurant, Law Office of Kathryn M. Cockrill, LLC, The Gable Foundation-Carl and Sally Gable, Anne and Ben Moise, Anne Gilmore Simms Pincus, David and Carol Rawle, Dora Ann and James J. Reaves Jr., and Evans and Frances Townsend.

To learn more about sponsorship opportunities, please view the Sponsorship Information Packet.