William J. Rushton, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, upon graduating college, studied at the Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence, Italy. The sight-sized method of drawing and painting William employed in Woman with a Red Earring, a technique also used by Velasquez and Sargent, may well have been lost but for the efforts of Mr. Cecil. William’s portrait Woman with a Red Earring is juried in the 2020 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London, England. Upheld as a noteworthy exhibit in contemporary portraiture both nationally and internationally, the exhibit was the first of the Society’s to be held virtually. It seems particularly poignant, as we distance from one another, that we find appealing traits of humankind within William’s portrait: caring eyes, a contemplative composure, and a calm demeanor.

Works such as Woman with a Red Earring, still lifes and sculptures will be on display at the Gallery on the Opening night and until September 30. A select number of the works will be for sale.