George Hunt

George Hunt (July 6, 1933 – December 4, 2020) was a Southern American artist, best known for his portraits of Blues musicians and illustrations for Blues Festivals, which ended up in many private collections in addition to galleries, museums, and the walls of Memphis businesses. He was primarily a painter, though he added collage highlights to some of his acrylic paintings that gave a distinctive three dimensionality and texture to the works. For 28 years, Hunt created the official poster for the Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival. Many people have seen his work or might even own it on a poster or T-shirt without knowing his name. He was selected to be the "official artist" of 2003's "Year of the Blues," a congressionally endorsed effort to increase appreciation of the Blues as one of America's great contributions to international arts culture, and toured to many places promoting the celebration. Hunt's work reflected his life experience growing up in the American South, including themes of African American life and the Civil Rights movement. His 1997 depiction of the Little Rock Nine, the nine brave students who desegregated Little Rock Central High School, was made into a U.S. postage stamp in 2005. Early life George Robert Hunt was born near Lake Charles, Louisiana. He spent much of his childhood in Hot Springs, Arkansas, and played football at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, while studying art. His favorite artist from an early age was Pablo Picasso, but his life experiences would also inform his work, which includes themes of the Civil Rights Movement and African American Southern life and culture. One such experience was in 1968, when Hunt was one of the pallbearers who carried the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr.'s body to the plane for its return to Georgia after his assassination.