Background
William H. Bailey was born on November 17, 1930, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States.
Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, United States
William studied at Yale University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1955 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1957.
William H. Bailey was born on November 17, 1930, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States.
During the period from 1948 till 1951, William studied at the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts. In 1951, his education was interrupted as he enlisted in the United States Army and served as a sergeant until 1953.
After military service, William continued his education at Yale University, where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1955 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1957. Josef Albers was his mentor.
In 1987, William was awarded with an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. He also received several Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degrees, including those from Adelphi University in 1993, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2004, as well as the Maryland Institute College of Art and the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts, both in 2012.
During the period from 1951 till 1953, William served as a sergeant in the United States Army. He was stationed in Japan and Korea.
In 1968, William had his first exhibition in New York City at Robert Schoelkopf Gallery and showed there regularly until its closing in 1990. During the 1990's, he exhibited at the Andre Emmerich Gallery and after its closing exhibited at the Robert Miller Gallery. In 2004, Bailey moved to the Betty Cuningham Gallery, where one of his most recent exhibitions was held in 2016. In general, during his career, William's work has been exhibited extensively in both America and Europe.
As for Bailey's academic career, he held various positions at different educational establishments. From 1956 till 1957, he served as an Assistant in Instruction at Yale University, where, in 1957-1961, William held the post of an Instructor in Drawing. Between 1961 and 1962, Bailey worked as an Assistant Professor in Drawing and Painting at the same university.
In 1962, Bailey moved to Indiana University as an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, where, in 1965, he was promoted to the post of an Associate Professor of Fine Arts. In 1968, William was appointed a Professor of Fine Arts, the post he held till 1969.
In 1967-1973, Bailey served as an Adjunct Professor of Art at Yale University, where, from 1973 till 1996, he held the position of a Professor of Art. In addition, in 1974, Bailey acted as a Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and, the following year, in 1975, he served as the Andrew Carnegie Visiting Professor at the Cooper Union.
In 1975-1976, William served as Dean of the Yale School of Art. Between 1979 and 1995, he worked as the Kingman Brewster Professor of Art at Yale University. In 1982-1983, William held the post of the Meadows Distinguished Visiting Professor at Southern Methodist University.
Currently, Bailey is the Kingman Brewster Professor Emeritus of Art at Yale University. These days, William divides his time between Umbertide, Italy, and New Haven, Connecticut.
Bailey's paintings hover between the abstract and the hyperrealistic. He often chooses to paint assorted bowls, vases, cups and other vessels in the style of a classic still-life. However, he does not paint from reality, but rather from memory, transforming a generic object into an object of beauty through close attention to texture, detail, color and design. Bailey also creates paintings of women, both nude and clothed, that appear to be portraits, but are in fact drawn entirely from the artist's imagination. Bailey portrays these figures weightlessly in rooms with open windows, letting in harsh light and shadows, reminiscent of the style of E. O. Hoppe.
It's worth mentioning, that William is strongly influenced by the work of the Italian still-life painter Giorgio Morandi and the pre-Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca.
Quotations: "I don't like categories. I have been variously described as a realist and as a classicist. The paintings I do are not from life - they're made up, but they're made up from real situations. All these things come from my memory really."
National Academy of Design , United States
1982
American Academy of Arts and Letters , United States
1986
Yaddo , United States
1985 - present
National Council on the Arts , United States
1992 - 1997
Smithsonian Archives of American Art , United States
2000 - present
Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation , United States
1970 - present