William Balthazar Rose (born 1961) is an English painter living near Umbertide Italy and the city of

Bath, England Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the ceremonial counties of England, county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman Baths (Bath), Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 1 ...

. He is the first son of artist parents Jasper Allison Rose and Jean Melville Rose. He works in a number of genres of which he is best known for his ‘Cooks’.

Life and career

William Rose Balthazar was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, England in 1961. His family moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and then Mexico before his father became a founding member of the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California syste ...

. As a child he began to draw and paint and he received degrees from the College of Environmental Design,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

(BA), and later a

Master of Architecture The “Master of Architecture”(M.Arch or MArch) or a “Bachelor of Architecture” is a professional degree in architecture, qualifying the graduate to move through the various stages of professional accreditation (internship, exams) that res ...

from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. He studied with

Jack Zajac Jack Zajac (born December 13, 1929) is a Californian West Coast artist who has been concerned with the “ Romantic Surrealist tradition”. :”To have a message or an emotional stimulation soaked up by an uncertainty of the Artist’s tool ...

and Eduardo Carillo when taking courses at U.C.S.C. and Kes Zapkus at Princeton University. Subsequently, he worked in the architectural offices of

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Grou ...

, Ralph Lerner (the

Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi is a premier government-funded arts organization in India. It is an autonomous institute under the Union Ministry of Culture (India), Ministry of Culture. History The Indira Ga ...

) and Mark Mack, before devoting himself to painting. He has lectured at

, the

, and at Baskin Arts on the

campus. Since 1990 he devoted himself to painting, initially basing himself in San Francisco. His work was featured at the Campbell Thiebaud Gallery (later the Paul Thiebaud Gallery), San Francisco. He became acquainted with Dennis Hare, Christopher Brown, Anthony Dubovsky and other exponents of the

Bay Area Figurative Movement The Bay Area Figurative Movement (also known as the Bay Area Figurative School, Bay Area Figurative Art, Bay Area Figuration, and similar variations) was a mid-20th Century art movement made up of a group of artists in the San Francisco Bay Area wh ...

Wayne Thiebaud Morton Wayne Thiebaud ( ; November 15, 1920 – December 25, 2021) was an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—as well as for his la ...

was one of the first painters to recognise his talents purchasing his work through his son Paul's Gallery. Following in the footsteps of

Balthus Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his image ...

, he moved to

Sansepolcro Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and ''comune'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of Tuscany. Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, the town ...

, Tuscany, the birthplace of

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

in 2003. Rose has lived for several years in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

while maintaining residences in

Monte Santa Maria Tiberina Monte Santa Maria Tiberina is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Perugia in the Italian region Umbria, located about 40 km northwest of Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, cr ...

, Umbria and

Borgo Sansepolcro Sansepolcro, formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro, is a town and ''comune'' founded in the 11th century, located in the Italian Province of Arezzo in the eastern part of the region of Tuscany. Situated on the upper reaches of the Tiber river, the town i ...

, Tuscany. Rose has exhibited widely in the United States, England and continental Europe (see below). His work has been deeply influenced by Cézanne, Chardin,

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...

Giorgio Morandi Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, b ...

and

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

in painting, and

Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

and

Peter Greenaway Peter Greenaway, (born 5 April 1942) is a Welsh film director, screenwriter and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his films are the ...

in film. Balthazar began painting the series that he calls ‘Cooks’ in 1991. The first examples were painted on small wooden panels and usually included a larger figure sitting to one side. Often inspired by medieval painting there is a comic quality to these painting which despite their origins in religious iconography speak of humanity’s eternal role as actors on the stage of life, sometimes play acting with great humour and other times acting out the gravest of tragedies. He has had solo shows alongside

Howard Hodgkin Sir Gordon Howard Eliott Hodgkin (6 August 1932 – 9 March 2017) was a British Painting, painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with Abstract art, abstraction. Early life Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin was born on 6 August 1 ...

and

Wolf Kahn Wolf Kahn (October 4, 1927 – March 15, 2020) was a German-born American painter. Kahn, known for his combination of Realism and Color Field, worked in pastel, oil paint, and printmaking. He studied under Hans Hofmann, and also graduated from ...

as well as group exhibitions with Alberto Sughi, Adriano Alumni,

Mario Tozzi Mario Tozzi (30 October 1895 – 8 September 1979) was an Italian painter. He was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government. Biography Tozzi studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Bologna in Italy where he met Giorgio Morandi ...

and

Ottone Rosai Ottone Rosai (28 April 1895 – 13 May 1957) was an Italian painter born in Florence. Biography Rosai graduated from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts in 1912, a period in which he was closely associated with the Lacerba group of Florentine Futur ...

. His talents and inspiration have been widely recognised by critics and patrons alike, best summarised by the following extract from Peter Davies' essay on Rose in a recent catalogue for Brian Sinfield gallery:

Indeed, despite a declared preference for the older European tradition, Rose made early professional inroads on the West Coast which saw him meeting the leading American painter
Wayne Thiebaud Morton Wayne Thiebaud ( ; November 15, 1920 – December 25, 2021) was an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot dogs—as well as for his la ...
whose hyperreal serialized depictions of cakes and food items suggested the culinary thread later used in Rose's chef compositions. Thiebaud, described by the younger British artist as a "straightforward man" typified the hard-headed pragmatism and rationalism of the modern American artist, a world apart from the eccentric and introspective romanticism of the English ‘school’, and there is no doubt that Thiebauld inspired Rose's acquisition of a detached professional persona... At times Rose conjures late Sickert, Beckmann, Balthus, Morandi, Manet, and Cezanne, variously inimitable and idiosyncratic painters who provide an oblique benchmark for Rose's inherent individualism and privileged position on a post-modern pluralist parapet.

Honors and awards

*Eisner prize, College of Environmental Design,

(1982) *Princeton full fellowship (1987–1989) *Bath Society of Artists (2010) *First ever Artist-in-Residence, The

Bishop's Palace, Wells The Bishop's Palace and accompanying Bishops House at Wells in the English county of Somerset, is adjacent to Wells Cathedral and has been the home of the Bishops of the Diocese of Bath and Wells for 800 years. It has been designated by Englis ...

(2013)

Selected exhibitions

United Kingdom

, Somerset *Gallery 27, London *Peteleys, London *Mariners’ Gallery, St. Ives *The London Contemporary Art Fair, London *The Royal College of Art, London *Business Design Centre, Islington, London *S & D Gallery, Kensington, London *11 Princelet Street Gallery. London, England *Lemon Street Gallery, Truro *Victoria Art Gallery, Bath *Anthony Hepworth Fine Art, Bath and London *Brian Sinfield Gallery, Burford *The Kathmandu Arts Centre, London *Bath Society of Artists, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath *Royal West of England, Bristol *Red Rag Gallery, Bath *The Bath Prize, The Octagon, Bath *Gallery leFort, Bath. *The Bath Gallery, Bath *Camden Fine Art, Bath *Walcott Village Hall, Bath *Museum Art Gallery, Devizes *The Schoolhouse Gallery, Bath *Quest Gallery, Bath

Europe

*Rocca Paolina, Perugia, Umbria *Galleria La Loggia, Sansepolcro, Tuscany *Galleria La Loggia, Cortona, Tuscany *Galleria Allesandrini, Sansepolcro, Tuscany *Grantfield Gallery, Anghiari, Tuscany *Grefti Gallery, Umbertide, Umbria *Mostra Internazionale, Bastia, Umbria *Palazzo Museo Bourbon del Monte, MSM Tiberina. Umbria *Canova Art Gallery. San Giorgio a Cremona, Naples *La Rocca di Umbertide, Umbria

United States

*Campbell-Thiebaud Gallery, San Francisco, California *Winfield Gallery, Carmel, California *Thomas Babeor and Co. La Jolla, California *Weir Gallery, Berkeley, California *Gallery Herbst Pavilion, Fort Mason, San Francisco, California *Lucas Gallery, Princeton University, New Jersey *The Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California *Sesnon Gallery, UCSC, Santa Cruz, California *Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, UCSC, Santa Cruz, California *Wurster Hall, University of California, Berkeley, California

Publications

*William Balthazar Rose and Wende Elliott. ''Grant Wood’s Iowa.'' Countryman Press, New York: Norton & Co. 2013. *William Rose. "Giorgio Morandi." ''Concrete Magazine''. CED. Cal Berkeley, 1981. *William Rose. 'Interview with Lars Lerup'. ''Berkeley Graduate Magazine.'' Cal Berkeley. 1982. *William Rose. ''First Poems.'' Santa Cruz, California, 1977.

Collectors

William has paintings in private collections all over the world, and has been collected over a thirty-year period.

Michel Roux Jr. Michel Albert Roux (born 23 May 1960) previously known as Michel Roux Jr., is an English-French two Michelin starred chef. He owns the London restaurant ''Le Gavroche.'' Early life Roux was born at Pembury maternity hospital in Kent, whilst h ...

has purchased several paintings and displays them in his

Le Gavroche Le Gavroche (''The Urchin'') is a restaurant at 43 Upper Brook Street in Mayfair, London. It was opened in 1967 by Michel and Albert Roux at 61 Lower Sloane Street, its premises until 1981. Albert's son Michel Roux Jr is the current chef patron ...

Restaurant in

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

, and his Roux at Parliament Square restaurant in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. He has profiled William's work in the magazine ''Seasons''.''Seasons:The Magazine for the Finer Elements of Life'', Winter 2011/12 While Michel Roux, Jr. is a dedicated and serious art collector owning works by

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

Chagall Marc Chagall; russian: link=no, Марк Заха́рович Шага́л ; be, Марк Захаравіч Шагал . (born Moishe Shagal; 28 March 1985) was a Russian-French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with se ...

and others, he named William Balthazar Rose as his favourite painter in a '' Country Life'' interview. American painter

and his family are collectors of William's landscapes and figurative work. Mr. and Mrs.

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

recently purchased a painting at the charity auction in London for the

Helen and Douglas House Helen & Douglas House is a registered hospice charity (no. 1085951) based in Oxford, England, providing palliative, respite, end-of-life and bereavement care to life-limited children and their families. History Helen House was the world's ...

Hospice charity. Other collectors of Rose's work include

Roberto Vittori Brigadier Roberto Vittori, OMRI (born 15 October 1964, in Viterbo) is an Italian Air Force officer and an ESA astronaut. After graduating from the Italian Accademia Aeronautica in 1989, Vittori flew in the Italian Air Force. He then trained as a ...

Edward Lucie-Smith John Edward McKenzie Lucie-Smith (born 27 February 1933), known as Edward Lucie-Smith, is a Jamaican-born English writer, poet, art critic, curator and broadcaster. He has been highly prolific in these fields, writing or editing over a hundred ...

Edward Chaney Edward Chaney (born 1951) is a British cultural historian. He is Professor Emeritus at Solent University and Honorary Professor at University College London (School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS) – Centre for Early Modern ...

and Henry and Mary Bedingfeld.

Reviews

2017

*''Il Potere dei Cuochi'', Vittorio Landi, Civilta della Tavola: Accademia Italiana della Cucina. N. 289, Gennaio 2017 *''Chopping Block'', Nicholas Usherwood. Galleries November issue. *''Collecting'', John Duffield. Valley Life Anno XVi nr 139 Settembre 2017. *''The Devil made the Cook'', Thomas Worthen, Jon Benington and

. Exhibition catalogue. The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath.

2016

*''Summery Summary'', John Duffield. Valley Life Anno XV nr 127 Settembre 2016. *''Nido dell’Aquila'', the Comune di Monte Santa Maria Tiberina. July 2016

2015

*''The Art of Fine Dining'', Tamsin Pickeral. ''The Mayfair Magazine'', October 2015.

2014

*''War, Minimalism, Pop'', Nicholas Usherwood. Galleries. September issue. *''Art of Eating'', Editors. Crumbs. No. 29 November 2014. *''William Balthazar Rose: Catalogue'', Brian Sinfield Gallery.

2013

*''Bath Society of Artists; a History'', Peter Davis. St. Ives Printing and Publishing Company.

2012

*''The Mysterious Iconography of William Rose'', Peter Davies. Catalogue essay. Brian Sinfield Gallery. *''In the Ascendant'', Magazine editors. ''The Bath Magazine''. Issue 120 September 2012.

2011

*''My Favourite Painting.'' John McEwen. '' Country Life''. 25 July 2011 featuring William Rose's "Red Shoes." *Fiona Forman. ''Michel's Private Collection.'' Michel Roux's Seasons. Winter 2011. *Zavarella e Boriosi. ''Artisti per l’Unita d’Italia-Impronta d’autore.'' Editebro Edizioni. Perugia, Italy. 2012.

2009

*''Tradition and the Individual'',

, ''The Jackdaw'', July/August 2009. *''Tradition and an Individual Talent'', Exhibition catalogue, text by

, Gallery leFort, Bath, England.

2008

*''Khulla Dhoka: The Open Door Exhibition'', Exhibition Catalogue. The Kathmandu Arts Centre.

2007

*''William Balthazar Rose: Sinfonia di Cappelli'', Exhibition Catalogue, essays by Paolo Turcis and Sean Gaston, analysis by Paolo Turcis, Serena Burroni and Federica Tiripelli. La Loggia Casa Editrice, Sansepolcro, Italy. *''The Creative Spirit of William Rose'', Simoni Bandini, ''Valley Life'', no. 34. June 2007.

2004

*''William Rose: Images of Bath and Italy'', Exhibition Catalogue, introduction by Jon Benington, curator, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, England. *''Art and Exhibitions'', The Bath Magazine, Issue 26, November 2004. *''Da DeChirico a Ferroni'', Giovanni Faccenda, La Loggia Casa Editrice, Sansepolcro, Italy.

1996

*''A Passion for Art'', Charles Baldridge, ''La Jolla Village News'' (12 July).

1994

*''But what are those Chefs Cooking'', Jonathan Saville, ''San Diego Reader''. 17 November 1994.

1993

*''Contemporary Landscapes Bask in Local Gallery Spotlight'', Marcia Tanner, ''San Francisco Chronicle.''

1992

*''Introductions'', Frank Cebulski, Artweek, vol. 23, no. 21 (6 August). *''Introducing Art by Lesser-Knowns'', Carol Fowler, ''Contra Costa Times'' (11 July).

1991

*''Presenting Ideas'', Thomas Fisher, ''Progressive Architecture'' (June).

1989

*''Eleven at 185'' Dawn Utsumi, ''The Real Nassau Weekly'', Princeton, New Jersey.

1984

*''Portfolio'' John Parman Editor, College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley.

1982

*''Windows'', ''Concrete Magazine''. Volume 14. Issue 1. CED. Cal Berkeley.

Media

William Balthazar Rose
''The Martin Evans Show'', BBC Somerset, 21 October 2017.
Cooks: William Balthazar Rose at Grefti Gallery & Grantfield Gallery, Italy
A film by Corinne Minore, 2016.
William Balthazar Rose at the Bishop’s Palace
a film by Christopher Donovan, Bath, England, 2015. *''William Balthazar Rose at the Bishop's Palace'', BBC Radio Somerset, Emma Britten. *''Grant Wood's Iowa''. Iowa Public Radio, Talk of Iowa with Charity Nebbe, 2014. *''William Balthazar Rose: Sinfonia di Capelli by Corinne Minore'', Galleria LaLoggia, Sansepolcro, Tuscany. Televised on several occasions throughout central Italy, 2007. *''Images of Bath and Italy'', Christopher Donovan, Bath, England, 2004. *''Puzzle'' a film made to commemorate the collective painting of twelve artists in Anghiari, Tuscany.

References

External links

William Balthazar Rose
– official website
Brian Sinfield GalleryVictoria Art GalleryWinfield GalleryBishop’s Palace,WellsPaul Thiebaud Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rose, William Balthazar 1961 births Living people 21st-century British painters Artists from Cambridge British male painters Princeton University alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area Stuckism Remodernism People educated at Wells Cathedral School 21st-century British male artists