William T. Williams (born 1942) is an American painter and educator. He is recognized as one of the "foremost abstract painters" of the past century.[1] His work has been exhibited in more than 100 exhibitions in the United States, France, Germany, Ivory Coast, Japan, Nigeria, People's Republic of China, Russia, and Venezuela. Williams is credited with being the first Black painter to be included in H. W. Janson's History of Art,[2] and is part of the Black Abstractionism canon. From 1971 to 2008, Williams was a Professor of Art at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.[3] A Guggenheim Fellow, Williams he received the Murray Reich Distinguished Artist Award from the New York Foundation for the Arts in 2024.[4] Williams lives in both New York City and Connecticut.[5]
After Pratt, Williams attended Yale School of Art,[1] where he received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in 1968.[4][7][14][6] While at Yale, Williams had an idea for an artist residency program that would link an urban community with an art museum, laying the foundation for The Studio Museum in Harlem's artist-in-residence program.[4][15][16][17] One of the museum's signature programs, the annual residency program attracts local, national, and international artists working in several media.[17][18]
From 1968 until 1970, Williams helped organize the Smokehouse Associates, a group of artists, including Guy Ciarcia, Melvin Edwards, and Billy Rose, who painted murals in Harlem in traditional and non-traditional spaces.[16][19][1]
In 1969 he participated in The Black Artist in America: A Symposium, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He also took part in numerous exhibitions including the Studio Museum in Harlem's Inaugural Show, X to the Fourth Power, and New Acquisitions held at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1970 Williams was commissioned by the Jewish Museum (New York), and the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.
Williams' first one-man show at New York's Reese Palley Gallery in 1971,[7][20][21] resulted in the sale of every painting. The same year, the Whitney Museum of American Art exhibited his work twice; collectors such as AT&T and General Mills purchased his art; and his work was featured in both Life and Time magazines.
Williams returned home to the dusty unpaved roads of North Carolina for the inspiration of a new palette, one born of the luster and glow of mica, false gold, and fox fire from earth's pulsating cover. Williams' relief from color-field painting was celebrated in the new works completed between 1971 and 1977, such as Equinox and Indian Summer. In 1975 William also took part in an artist in residence program at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1977, Williams participated in the second World Festival of Black Arts and African Culture in Lagos, Nigeria (FESTAC). This festival brought together more than 17,000 artists of African descent from 59 countries. It was the largest cultural event ever held on the African continent.
Starting in 1979, Williams changed his painting composition style by dividing the canvas into two distinct sections.[3]
In 1986, Williams was the first Black contemporary artist to be included in the standard academic art history text, H.W. Janson’s The History of Art (Harry N. Abrams, Inc, 1979).[4]Henry Ossawa Tanner was also included in the book.[4]
In 1987 William received the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. He also was a member of a show that took place in Tokyo, Japan entitled The Art of Black America in Japan. William also took part in Contemporary Visual Expressions, a show at the Anacostia Museum and Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C..
William's traveled to Venezuela with painter Jack Whitten and sculptors Melvin Edwards and Tyrone Mitchell for the opening of their exhibition Espiritu & Materia at the Museum of Visual Arts, Alejandro Otero.
The 1990s
In 1992 Williams was presented the Studio Museum in Harlem Artist's Award for lifetime achievement and his role in creating the artist-in-residence program for the museum.Robert Blackburn first invited Williams to make a print at the Printmaking Workshop in 1975. Over the next 22 years, Williams collaborated with Blackburn to produce 19 editions and a number of unique print projects. His last project at the Printmaking Workshop was in 1997 when he produced a number of monoprints underwritten by art patron, Major Thomas.
In 1994 Williams participated in a Jazz at Lincoln Center program titled "Swing Landscapes: Jazz Visualized". The intent of the Jazz Talk program was to explore what it is about jazz that makes its colors, rhythms and characters so attractive to the painter's eye. Williams and author, Alfred Appel, Jr. discussed the influence of jazz on modern art. This program was part of a New York Citywide celebration honoring the artist Romare Bearden.
In 2005, Williams was invited to create a print at the Brandywine Workshop in conjunction with receiving the James Van Der Zee Award for Lifetime Achievement. Between July and late August he made five trips to Philadelphia, staying several days at a time. These trips yielded four editions and a number of unique hand-colored prints. The Artic Workshop located in Philadelphia was founded in 1972 to promote interest and talent in printmaking while cultivating cultural diversity in the arts.
In 2006, Williams was a visiting scholar and artist in residence at Lafayette College's Experimental Printmaking Institute (EPI), which included Williams lecture about his work sponsored by the David L. Sr. and Helen J. Temple Visiting Lecture Series Fund. During this year, Williams' work was also shown at the Studio Museum in Harlem in Energy and Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction 1964–1980.
In 2006, William T. Williams received the North Carolina Governors Award for Fine Arts by Governor Mike Easley.
In 2007, Williams was part of the group exhibition What Is Painting? Contemporary Art from the Collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[22][10]
In 2024, Williams was included in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's group exhibition Flight into Egypt: Black Artists and Ancient Egypt, 1876–Now that remained on view until February 2025.[4]
Oral History Project with LeRonn Brooks and Shanna Farrell, a partnership between the UC Berkeley Oral History Center and the Getty Research Institute, 2022[1]
Creative Arts Public Service Grant, Painting, New York, 1985
City University of New York, Faculty Research Award, Painting, 1984
Creative Arts Public Service Grant, Painting, New York, 1981[20]
Creative Arts Public Service Grant, Painting, New York, 1975[20]
City University of New York, Faculty Research Award, Painting, 1973[20]
National Endowment for the Arts, Individual Artist Award, Painting, 1970[1][20]
Yale University, Grant for Graduate Study, New Haven, Connecticut, 1966[20]
National Endowment for the Arts, Traveling Grant, 1965[1][20]
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↑ Driskell, David (1985). "An Unending Visual Odyssey". William T. Williams: An Exhibition of Paintings from 1974 to 1985 (exhibition). Winston-Salem, NC: Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. OCLC14720425.
↑ Williams, William T. (Year unknown). "The trustees of the Studio Museum in Harlem read my proposal, interviewed me and hired me to start an Artist-in-Residence program. That program had its start at the first site of the Museum over the liquor store on Fifth Avenue (2033 Fifth Avenue). It was a loft, a factory going out of business that had a lot of sewing machines in it. Mel Edwards and I physically cleaned that space out for the Artist-in-Residence program. That was the beginning. I wanted to create a context, namely an Artist-in-Residence program, through which money could be funnelled to artists which would allow them to ponder the kinds of issues and questions that come up in a graduate program."
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