Noted Artist’s Portrait of Winton ‘Red’ Blount to be Unveiled at UA March 4

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A portrait of the late Alabama businessman Winton M. “Red” Blount, painted by the artist of kings and U.S. presidents, will be unveiled March 4 at The University of Alabama. The unveiling will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Oliver-Barnard Hall on the UA campus, as part of the annual Benefactors Dinner hosted by UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Kay Blount Pace, the late philanthropist’s daughter, and University President Robert E. Witt will speak at the ceremony, which will mark the installation on the UA campus of the painting by William F. Draper, often called the “dean of American portrait painters.”

The portrait was a gift to the University made by Pace’s brother, Joseph W. Blount, of Miami Beach and Southhampton, N.Y.

It will hang in the main room of Oliver-Barnard Hall, one of two Academic Houses in UA’s Blount Undergraduate Initiative, a program named in 1999 for Blount and his wife Carolyn. Winton Blount died Oct. 24, 2002 and his wife, Carolyn, died earlier this year on Jan. 24.

“Dad loved The University of Alabama and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative,” Pace said. “He felt very honored to be able to kick off funding for such an innovative and important program.”

The Blount Undergraduate Initiative was established with a $14 million private endowment provided by 27 Alabamians, including the Blounts and the Blount Foundation of Montgomery. Oliver-Barnard is one of the two historic academic buildings housing the innovative four-year liberal arts program in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Joseph Blount purchased the oil-on-canvas portrait from the Blount Foundation of Montgomery, Pace said. “My brother wanted it to be a permanent reminder to all Blount Scholars of his belief that a superior education comes with the responsibility to use that knowledge for the good of all,” the Birmingham resident said.

Draper painted Blount in the mid-1990s, Pace said. The artist, who died in 2003, has work displayed in the National Gallery of Art and the National Portrait Gallery.

The Massachusetts native’s subjects include former presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, John D. Rockefeller, the Shah of Iran, financier Paul Mellon and author James Michener.

During World War II, Draper was selected as one of five official Navy combat artists. National Geographic published the scenes he produced from 1943-1945, during which time Draper completed portraits of U.S. Navy Admirals William F. Halsey and Chester W. Nimitz.

The Benefactors Dinner is held in appreciation of corporations and individuals who have supported UA’s College of Arts and Sciences with scholarships, endowments, and other gifts.

Winton Blount was U.S. Postmaster General 1969-71 and served as a president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

He founded Blount Inc., now Blount International, and served as chairman of the manufacturing and construction company. Its projects have included the nation’s first atomic energy plant, launch pads for the NASA moon launch and a $2 billion university built in Saudi Arabia.

Blount donated $21.5 to build the Carolyn Blount Theatre, home of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival complex and donated the 200 acres where it and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts have been built.

The College of Arts and Sciences is Alabama’s largest liberal arts college and the University’s largest division with 355 faculty and 6,600 students.