Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 9
William BaileyUntitled (Still Life)2001
2001
$1,500
£1,151.94
€1,320.10
CA$2,111.63
A$2,365.49
CHF 1,230.35
MX$28,854.12
NOK 15,663.99
SEK 14,770.02
DKK 9,852.89
About the Item
Untitled (Still Life)
Etching, aquatint and soft ground, 2001
Signed in pencil (see photo)
Edition: 260
Published by the Print Club of Cleveland, Publication 80, 2002
Printed by Felix Harlan at Harlan and Weaver, New York
William Bailey, Modernist Figurative Painter, Dies at 89
He swathed his nudes and still lifes of eggs, vases, bottles and bowls in a breathless, deceptively serene atmosphere heavy with mystery.
The painter William Bailey in 2009. He was never given a career survey in a major museum, but his influence, particulary on students at Yale, was deep.Credit...Ford Bailey
By William Grimes for the New York Times
April 18, 2020
William Bailey, whose pristine, idealized still lifes and female nudes made him one of the leading figures in the return of figurative art in the 1980s, died on April 13 at his home in Branford, Conn. He was 89.
His death was confirmed by his daughter, Alix Bailey.
Beyond his painting, Mr. Bailey influenced generations of students in his many years as a teacher at the Yale School of Art.
In some of his best-known work, Mr. Bailey arranged simple objects — the eggs, bowls, bottles and vases that he once called “my repertory company” — along a severe horizontal shelf, or on a plain table, swathing them in a breathless, deceptively serene atmosphere heavy with mystery.
His muted ochres, grays and powdery blues conjured up a still, timeless world inhabited by Platonic forms, recognizable but uncanny, in part because he painted from imagination rather than
“They are at once vividly real and objects in dream, and it is the poetry of this double life that elevates all this humble crockery to the realm of pictorial romance,” Hilton Kramer wrote in The New York Times in 1979.
Mr. Bailey’s female figures, some clothed in a simple shift or robe and others partly or entirely nude, are disconcertingly impassive, implacable and unreadable, fleshly presences breathing an otherworldly air.
The critic Mark Stevens, writing in Newsweek in 1982, credited Mr. Bailey with helping to “restore representational art to a position of consequence in modern painting.”
But his version of representation was entirely idiosyncratic, seemingly traditional but in fact “a modernism so contrarian,” the artist Alexi Worth wrote in a catalog essay for the Betty Cuningham Gallery in 2010, “that it feels, despite its historical sophistication, almost like a brand of outsider art.”
William Harrison Bailey was born on Nov. 17, 1930, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. His father, Willard, worked in radio advertising and moved the family from city to city in the Midwest. Bill was in his early teens when his father died. His mother, Marjorie (Cheyney) Bailey, was a homemaker who later worked as an accountant for her second husband, Fred Baker, who ran a business training investigators.
A revival of interest in figurative painting in the early 1980s propelled Mr. Bailey to the cover of Newsweek, which chose his seminude “Portrait of S” to epitomize the trend. Shocked retailers across the country pulled the magazine from their shelves.
Mr. Bailey studied art at the University of Kansas but left before graduating and enlisted in the Army. He saw combat as a platoon sergeant in Korea and later served in Japan.
On returning to the United States, he enrolled in Yale University’s art school, where he studied with the abstract painter Josef Albers. He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in 1955 and a master’s degree two years later.
In 1958 he married Sandra Stone, a fellow Yale student who paints under her maiden name. In addition to her and his daughter, he is survived by a son, Ford, and five grandchildren.
Mr. Bailey remained at Yale as a teacher of drawing and painting until 1962, when he accepted a teaching position at Indiana University. He returned to Yale as a tenured professor in 1969 and taught there until 1995, a period when Yale gained recognition as one of the premier art programs in the United States.
“When we come to look at the artists influenced by him and his way of seeing, we see some of the more prominent names of the late 20th century,” said Mark D. Mitchell, a curator at the Yale University Art Gallery. The names include Nancy Graves, Richard Serra, Rackstraw Downes, Sylvia Mangold, John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage.
On Mr. Bailey’s visits to Italy, France and Greece, his encounters with Greek sculpture and the cool classicism of painters like Piero della Francesca and Ingres proved decisive. “When my work changed around 1960, I was thinking, ‘There’s so much noise in contemporary art. So much gesture,’” he told Yale News in 2010. “ I realized it wasn’t my natural bent to make a lot of noise, and I’m not very good at rhetorical gesture.”
Reacting to a colleague who proposed the egg as the ultimate example of pure, simplified form, Mr. Bailey painted an egg on a shelf, then two, seeing rhythmic possibilities. A dozen of them appear in the 1974 painting “Eggs.” Before long the eggs were sharing space with cups, bowls and vases. Although his studio was filled with these props, Mr. Bailey painted entirely from memory.
He had his first solo show at the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery in Manhattan in 1968. In 1970 he was included in a major survey, “Twenty-two Realists,” at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Interest in figurative painting gathered steam, propelling Mr. Bailey to the cover of Newsweek, which in 1982 chose the semi-nude “Portrait of S” (1979-80) to epitomize the trend. Proving that the bourgeoisie could still be shocked, retailers across the country pulled the magazine from their shelves, although newsstand sales of Newsweek doubled in Manhattan. Feminists saw something like bondage in the dress straps that held the subject’s arms close to her body.
Mr. Bailey, who always spoke of his work in purely formal terms and rejected the label “realist,” was aghast. “I admire painters who can work directly from nature, but for me that seems to lead to anecdotal painting,” he once said. “Realism is about interpreting daily life in the world around us. I’m trying to paint a world that’s not around us.”
Image
“Turning” (2003). Mr. Bailey called the simple objects in his still lifes — eggs, bowls, bottles and vases — “my repertory company.”Credit...William Bailey/Betty Cuningham Gallery
Like the Italian still life painter Giorgio Morandi, one of his heroes, Mr. Bailey pursued his ideas single-mindedly, playing variations on his arranged objects and female figures throughout his career. He was never given a career survey in a major museum, but last year the Yale University Art Gallery mounted a retrospective, “William Bailey: Looking Through Time.”
A survey of his drawings was scheduled to open at the New York Studio School last month but was put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Creator:William Bailey (1930, American)
- Creation Year:2001
- Dimensions:Height: 10.88 in (27.64 cm)Width: 14.75 in (37.47 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Fairlawn, OH
- Reference Number:Seller: FA104971stDibs: LU14015440412
About the Seller
5.0
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
Gold Seller
Premium sellers maintaining a 4.3+ rating and 24-hour response times
Established in 1978
1stDibs seller since 2013
802 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: <1 hour
Associations
International Fine Print Dealers Association
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Fairlawn, OH
- Return Policy
Authenticity Guarantee
In the unlikely event there’s an issue with an item’s authenticity, contact us within 1 year for a full refund. DetailsMoney-Back Guarantee
If your item is not as described, is damaged in transit, or does not arrive, contact us within 7 days for a full refund. Details24-Hour Cancellation
You have a 24-hour grace period in which to reconsider your purchase, with no questions asked.Vetted Professional Sellers
Our world-class sellers must adhere to strict standards for service and quality, maintaining the integrity of our listings.Price-Match Guarantee
If you find that a seller listed the same item for a lower price elsewhere, we’ll match it.Trusted Global Delivery
Our best-in-class carrier network provides specialized shipping options worldwide, including custom delivery.More From This Seller
View AllStill Life No. 5
By William H. Bailey
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Still Life No. 5
Lithograph, 1978
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil (see photos)
Edition: 50 (24/50)
Published by Solo Press, New York, 1978
Printer: Judith Solodkin, first femal ...
Category
1970s American Realist Still-life Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Still Life No. 5
By William H. Bailey
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Still Life No. 5
Lithograph, 1978
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil (see photos)
Edition: 50 (24/50)
Published by Solo Press, New York, 1978
Printer: Judith Solodkin, first femal ...
Category
1970s American Realist Still-life Prints
Materials
Lithograph
Collection
By Laurent Schkolnyk
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Collection
Color mezzotint, 1980
Signed, titled, and numbered in pencil (see photos)
Edition 80 (78/80)
Considered to be one of the artist's finest mezzotints.
Condition: Excellent
I...
Category
1980s Contemporary Still-life Prints
Materials
Mezzotint
Setsugo
By Katsunori Hamanishi
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Setsugo-Δ
Mezzotint, 1977
Signed, titled and numbered in pencil (see photo)
Edition: 30 (8/30)
Provenance:
Ninion and Sheldon Landy Collection, Donors to Art Inst. of Chicago Hamanishi Exhibition, Oct. 12, 2013-January 5, 2014
Hamanishi Large 12
HAMANISHI Katsunori...
Category
1970s Abstract Still-life Prints
Materials
Mezzotint
Big Momma's Still Life #2
By Sedrick Huckaby
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Big Momma's Still Life #2
Oil pastel on rag paper, 2007
Signed by the artist lower left: "Sedrick Huckaby III" (see photo)
Sheet size: 16 x 12 1/8 inches
Frame: 28 x 24 inches
Exhibi...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel
Big Momma's Still Life #2
By Sedrick Huckaby
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Big Momma's Still Life #2
Oil pastel on rag paper, 2007
Signed by the artist lower left: "Sedrick Huckaby III" (see photo)
Sheet size: 16 x 12 1/8 inches
Frame: 28 x 24 inches
Exhibi...
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Oil Pastel
You May Also Like
Untitled (Still Life)
Located in New York, NY
William Bailey
Untitled (Still Life)
Etching and aquatint on wove paper, with full margins
1982
S. 27 1/2 x 22 in. (69.9 x 55.9 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil lower right "Bailey ...
Category
1980s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
$1,170 Sale Price
35% Off
Untitled (Still Life)
Located in New York, NY
William Bailey Untitled Still Life 1982
Etching and aquatint, on wove paper, with full margins.
S. 27 1/2 x 22 in. (69.9 x 55.9 cm)
Signed and dated in pencil lower right "Bailey...
Category
1980s Contemporary Prints and Multiples
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
$1,170 Sale Price
35% Off
Still Life
By René Genis
Located in Berlin, MD
Rene Genis (French 1922-2004) Still Life. Mainly oranges and browns, fruits and flowers, against a background of browns with a pitcher central. The browns contain a subtle mixture ...
Category
Mid-20th Century Contemporary Still-life Prints
Materials
Lithograph
$580 Sale Price
20% Off
Still Life
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): Bailey 1977
Category
Late 20th Century Contemporary Still-life Drawings and Watercolors
Materials
Paper, Pencil
Still Life - Niccone
Located in New York, NY
William Bailey’s still life paintings present seemingly everyday objects, including bowls, pitchers, and cups, in groupings that conjure the familiar world while offering a metaphysi...
Category
20th Century Contemporary Still-life Paintings
Materials
Paper, Casein
Still Life - Etching by V. Mongatti - 1980s
By Vairo Mongatti
Located in Roma, IT
Still Life is an original print in etching technique on cardboard, signed by Vairo Mongatti, in 1980s.
In very good conditions,
Hand-signed of the lower right. Numbered 104/120 of ...
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Prints
Materials
Etching