Alfred Hutty was a leading figure in the Charleston Renaissance group of artists, active between 1915 and 1940, who stirred national interest through their widely distributed illustrations of life in the historic city. Hutty worked for Tiffany Studios and lived in Woodstock, New York. He came to Charleston looking for a warm climate to spend the winter, and from 1920 to 1924 directed the school of the Carolina Art Association at the Gibbs Art Gallery. A regular summer resident until his death in 1956, he was also one of the founding members of the Charleston Etchers’ Club. He worked primarily in drypoint and created social realist scenes that depicted subjects such as stooped figures in doorways and buildings in need of repair. One such drypoint etching showed the Catfish Row tenement, which had been immortalized by DuBose Heyward in his novel “Porgy.” Hutty also made oil paintings of lush gardens and plantation scenes.
