It's been a little more than four months since courtroom sketch artist Bill Hennessy suddenly passed away on his 67th birthday last December. His skilled artwork took viewers inside courtrooms, where cameras could never go, instead capturing dramatic moments in colorful pastels.
Hennessy sketched thousands of courtroom scenes, many of them historic, over more than 40 years, and now his family is wondering what to do with it all.
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WATCH HERE"Dad drew things exactly as he saw them, with as much accuracy as you could possibly put into that sketch," his son told us.
Bill Hennessy had a sharp eye for detail. Just glancing at these sketches inside his studio in Loudoun County, Virginia, the faces are unmistakable: Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Johnny Depp, the nine justices of the Supreme Court.
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SIGN UP "He captured people in their moment and the likeness that expressed what was happening in the court at that time," his son said.
Hennessy’s family will tell you he was a humble man. He never thought of his legacy, even telling one interviewer he would leave it up to his children. But with his sudden passing, his widow, Ari Hennessy, has a choice as well: What will they do with it all?
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"It is so valuable to humanity, in a way of — that he recorded the history of the courts, especially in [the] Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and all over. So it needs to be shown."
The Library of Congress and the National Portrait Gallery both have expressed interest in the collection and have sent staff to have a look, Hennessy's daughter, Alishia Hennessy, said.
"So the curators from those institutions have been here, and they've been, obviously, impressed and in awe of the amazing work that they have seen," she said.
But the Hennessys are not sold on just one idea — they're also open to suggestions.
"We are just trying every direction that we can tp see what best suits this collection," Ari Hennessy said.
That includes digitizing every sketch and including the story behind each one.
On the second floor in the studio, many of the high-profile court cases Hennessy sketched are cataloged.
"Five thousand pieces of original artwork are in here," Ari Hennessy said.
Bill Hennessy was not just a talented artist; he was a journalist as well. His sudden death stunned a generation of judges, lawyers and reporters.
The toolbox he carried into court every day now is a precious keepsake.
"This, to me, this is a treasure," Ari Hennessy said.
And now, as the family contemplates what to do with all his art, Ari Hennessy holds the last piece he sketched in Key West, Florida.
"So, in every direction that personally I look at, it is extremely unique, that I feel like it needs to be shared with the world and be kept alive, so to me he was truly one of the renaissance men,"" she said.
