Label TextBailey was born in Council Bluffs in 1930 and attended the University of Kansas before transferring to Yale University where he earned his B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees. During most of the 1960's he taught at Indiana University. then moved on to teach at Yale.
Bailey’s work is part of a resurgence of realism in American art beginning in the 1960s. Ignoring contemporary life and art, Migianella Still Life connects to the long artistic tradition of still life that refers back to Old Masters such as Chardin and Ingres. The light that falls on the objects is even and warm, and the work’s surface is so refined that little evidence is left of the painter’s touch. These techniques lend the common objects presented a sense of timelessness and mystery. The sense of peace and clarity suggested by Bailey’s painting is sometimes deceptive. Although the table arrangement seems straightforward and logical at first glance, prolonged viewing reveals subtle inconsistencies in the spatial relationships among the objects. The viewer looks slightly downward onto the table, but the objects are seen at eye level. These discrepancies transform this seemingly passive scene to one of potential change and movement.
Exhibition History"The Homecoming Exhibition," Organized by the Iowa Arts Council (circulated to: Gallery of Art, Univ. of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Oct. 20 - Dec. 10, 1986; Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, Feb. 14 - Mar. 22, 1987; Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Apr. 12 - May 10, 1987, Des Moines Art Center, Aug. 14 - Sept. 13, 1987, The Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Sept. 27 - Nov. 1, 1987; Muscatine Art Center, Muscatine, Nov. 8 - Jan. 3, 1988)
"Contemporary American Still Life," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, April 19 - June 15, 1986
"Highlights from Three Collections: The Bohen, Coffin and Cowles Collections," Des Moines Art Center, July 8 - Sept. 11, 1983
"The Image In American Painting & Sculpture 1950-1980," Akron Art Museum, OH, Sept. 12 - Nov. 8, 1981
"Options for Collectors III," Des Moines Art Center, July 14 - Sept. 1, 1980
"Still-lifes and the Figure by William Bailey," Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D. C., Apr. 7 - May 12, 1979
"William Bailey," Galerie Claude Bernard, 1978
Published ReferencesDMAC Bulletin, July/Aug. 1982, cover ill.
"La Chronique des Arts," supplement to GAZETTE DES BEAUX-ARTS, Mar. 1983, ref. p.69
"News from the Fendrick Gallery," March 1979, ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, catalog of selections from the permanent collection published in 1985, cat. ref. p.28, ill. pl.8, p.27
Bryce Walker, "The Contemporary Image," UNITED MAINLINER, Sept. 1981, color ill. p.55
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. & color detail p.53, color ill. p.52
"Contemporary American Still Life," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1986, ref. and color ill.
"The Image In American Painting & Sculpture 1950-1980," Akron Art Museum, OH, 1981, color ill. p.61, pl.23
"William Bailey," Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, 1978, cat. no.12
Bailey’s work is part of a resurgence of realism in American art beginning in the 1960s. Ignoring contemporary life and art, Migianella Still Life connects to the long artistic tradition of still life that refers back to Old Masters such as Chardin and Ingres. The light that falls on the objects is even and warm, and the work’s surface is so refined that little evidence is left of the painter’s touch. These techniques lend the common objects presented a sense of timelessness and mystery. The sense of peace and clarity suggested by Bailey’s painting is sometimes deceptive. Although the table arrangement seems straightforward and logical at first glance, prolonged viewing reveals subtle inconsistencies in the spatial relationships among the objects. The viewer looks slightly downward onto the table, but the objects are seen at eye level. These discrepancies transform this seemingly passive scene to one of potential change and movement.
This painting is one of a group of still lifes painted during the mid-1970s. Replying to a letter of inquiry Bailey wrote that Migianella "is a place, a castle partially destroyed in the15th century. It overlooks my house in Umbria" in central Italy
The painting is charcteristic of Bailey still lifes in several respects: a number of houseshold objects, generally ceramic contaners of various types, are carefully arrqanged on a table or, in this instance a sideboard. The colors of the household objects, of the egg, of the sideboard and of the plain background are muted....
Source: DMAC Bulletin, July-August 1982
Exhibition History"The Homecoming Exhibition," Organized by the Iowa Arts Council (circulated to: Gallery of Art, Univ. of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Oct. 20 - Dec. 10, 1986; Charles H. MacNider Museum, Mason City, Feb. 14 - Mar. 22, 1987; Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, Apr. 12 - May 10, 1987, Des Moines Art Center, Aug. 14 - Sept. 13, 1987, The Blanden Memorial Art Museum, Fort Dodge, Sept. 27 - Nov. 1, 1987; Muscatine Art Center, Muscatine, Nov. 8 - Jan. 3, 1988)
"Contemporary American Still Life," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, April 19 - June 15, 1986
"Highlights from Three Collections: The Bohen, Coffin and Cowles Collections," Des Moines Art Center, July 8 - Sept. 11, 1983
"The Image In American Painting & Sculpture 1950-1980," Akron Art Museum, OH, Sept. 12 - Nov. 8, 1981
"Options for Collectors III," Des Moines Art Center, July 14 - Sept. 1, 1980
"Still-lifes and the Figure by William Bailey," Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D. C., Apr. 7 - May 12, 1979
"William Bailey," Galerie Claude Bernard, 1978
Published ReferencesDMAC Bulletin, July/Aug. 1982, cover ill.
"La Chronique des Arts," supplement to GAZETTE DES BEAUX-ARTS, Mar. 1983, ref. p.69
"News from the Fendrick Gallery," March 1979, ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, catalog of selections from the permanent collection published in 1985, cat. ref. p.28, ill. pl.8, p.27
Bryce Walker, "The Contemporary Image," UNITED MAINLINER, Sept. 1981, color ill. p.55
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. & color detail p.53, color ill. p.52
"Contemporary American Still Life," New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1986, ref. and color ill.
"The Image In American Painting & Sculpture 1950-1980," Akron Art Museum, OH, 1981, color ill. p.61, pl.23
"William Bailey," Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, 1978, cat. no.12
DimensionsOverall: 44 3/4 × 57 1/2 in. (113.7 × 146.1 cm)
Accession Number 1981.60
Classificationspainting
SignedBailey 1976 (verso l,r oil paint)
InscriptionsMigianella Still Life (verso u,r stretcher bar)
9 July 76 - 1 Sept 76 (verso c,r stretcher bar)
ProvenanceArtist. (Fendrick Gallery, Washington, D.C.); Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1981]
Collections
André Dunoyer de Segonzac
ca. 1920
