William H. Bailey (November 17, 1930 - April 13, 2020) was an esteemed American painter and academic, celebrated for his contemplative still lifes and quiet figurative compositions. He held the title of Kingman Brewster Professor Emeritus of Art at Yale University, where he mentored generations of emerging artists.
Born in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bailey displayed an early passion for drawing. He pursued formal art training at the University of Kansas School of Fine Arts from 1948 to 1951, before serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Army in Japan and Korea (1951-53). After his service, he completed a B.F.A. in 1955 and an M.F.A. in 1957 at Yale University, where he studied under the influential Josef Albers.
Bailey's artistic style emerged as a singular blend of classical realism and serene abstraction. His paintings-most notably of vessels, eggs, bowls, and still-life arrangements-are meticulously rendered yet conceived from memory rather than direct observation. He described them memorably: they are "made up … from real situations," reflecting a creative sensibility more imaginative than documentary.
Strong influences on his work include Italian still-life master Giorgio Morandi and pre-Renaissance figures like Piero della Francesca, whose subtle harmony, composition, and stillness Bailey embraced.
His still lifes are imbued with a mystical clarity-objects resting on simple surfaces against understated backgrounds, unified by balanced colors and quiet light. Critics and peers alike describe his work as dream-like, timeless, and suffused with meditative calm. Bailey also painted evocative figurative works and landscapes that extended his ethos of minimalist grandeur.
Bailey's exhibition history is extensive, including early shows such as his first solo exhibition at the Robert Hull Fleming Museum, University of Vermont in 1956, followed by regular gallery representation in New York-most notably with the Robert Schoelkopf Gallery and later Andre Emmerich Gallery, then Robert Miller Gallery, and from 2005 until his death with Betty Cuningham Gallery.
His artworks entered major public collections, including MoMA, the Whitney Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and Yale University-underscoring his lasting relevance in American art.
Bailey served on the Yale faculty beginning in 1958, including tenures as Dean of the Yale School of Art (1975-76) and Kingman Brewster Professor of Art (1979-95), continuing thereafter as Professor Emeritus until 2020. His influence shaped many students, including notable painters like John Currin and Lisa Yuskavage.
In 2019, the Yale University Art Gallery mounted a major retrospective-William Bailey: Looking Through Time-celebrating his career's enduring depth and formal elegance.