William Bailey's art, while unambiguously representational, is at the same time highly abstract. His paintings, drawings, and prints of still life arrangements and of female figures distill objects, interiors, and nudes to nearly metaphysical purity. Bailey drew inspiration from artistic forbearers ranging from the 15th century Piero dlla Francesca painter to the 20th century painters Morandi and Balthus. Bailey's graphite figure drawings frequently focus on a torso or head. The delicate gray contours gather into shadows and rise to a climax -- a deeper gray -- around the head and eyes. The artist represents these nude models objectively. They are not necessarily objects of desire, but figures that have a role in the life of his studio and in his art. Bailey taught painting at Yale University, where John Currin studied with him.

Source: DMAC, Body Language, Feb 7 - Apr 27, 2003

Bailey 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.

Source: Bulletin, November-December, 1984