Frederick Ballard Williams (1871- 1956) was an American landscape and figure painter. He is best known for his decorative and idyllic scenes of the New England landscape. As a member of the

National Academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, most frequently in the sciences but also the humanit ...

, Salmagundi Club president, and founder of the American Artists Professional League, Williams was an influential figure in the promotion of 20th-century art in America.

Early life and education

The son of an artist,"Artists & Architects: Frederick Ballard Williams." National Academy Museum: Collections. National Academy Museum, n.d. Web. 21 July 2014. Frederick B. Williams was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1871. He was educated in the public schools of Bloomfield and Montclair, New Jersey, attending art classes at night at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

and at the New York Institute of Artists and Artisans."Frederick Ballard Williams." Hickory Museum of Art- American Collection: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition. Hickory, NC: Hickory Museum of Art, 1994. 58-59. Print. He also studied privately with artist John Ward Stimson, whose work likely influenced Williams’ celebrated ''

fête galante ''Fête galante'' () (courtship party) is a category of painting specially created by the French Academy in 1717 to describe Antoine Watteau's (1684–1721) variations on the theme of the fête champêtre, which featured figures in ball dress o ...

'' paintings. Williams traveled briefly in England and France, supporting himself by teaching in private schools, before settling in Glen Ridge, New Jersey.

Later life and work

In 1901, Williams had his first exhibition at the National Academy and won a bronze medal at the

Pan-American Exposition The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

. His work was composed almost entirely of landscape paintings and of outdoor scenes peopled with idealized, elegantly-clad women. In 1910, he took a trip with painters Thomas Moran,

Elliott Daingerfield Elliott Daingerfield (1859–1932) was an American artist who lived and worked in North Carolina. He is considered one of North Carolina's most prolific artists.Johnson, Lucille Miller (1992). ''Hometown Heritage, Volume II'', p 2-3. Taylor Publi ...

, Douglas Parshall and

Edward Henry Potthast Edward Henry Potthast (June 10, 1857 – March 9, 1927) was an American Impressionist painter. He is known for his paintings of people at leisure in Central Park, and on the beaches of New York and New England. Life and work Edward Henry Pottha ...

to the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

and other western sites. The result was an expansion of Williams' subject matter and a series of Californian landscapes. Williams carried out field studies of the landscapes that were the subjects of his work, but painted in his studio. He believed in the separation between art and its subject, and that an artist’s idealistic vision could serve and augment his subject matter. William’s work is included in the permanent collections of the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

, the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

, the

Hickory Museum of Art Hickory Museum of Art (HMA) is an art museum in Hickory, North Carolina which holds exhibitions, events, and public educational programs based on a permanent collection of 19th to 21st century American art. The museum also features a long-term e ...

, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. In 1944, William’s ''Burke Mountain, Vermont'' was purchased for the Hickory Museum of Art, becoming the first painting in the museum’s collection.Chronology of The Hickory Museum of Art. Hickory, NC: Hickory Museum of Art, 2 June 2005. He was the recipient of numerous awards and honors throughout his career, including the Isidor Gold Medal of the National Academy of Design in 1909.

References

External links

National Academy profile and biography of Frederick Ballard Williams''The Trio'' at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

''The Echo'' at the Milwaukee Museum of Art

Three exhibition catalogs
available from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries. {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Frederick Ballard 1871 births 1956 deaths American landscape painters Painters from Brooklyn 20th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American male artists