William Baziotes (1912-1963)
Catalogue Raisonné Project
Michael Preble, Editor
[Biography][Recent Exhibits][Catalogue Raisonne][Submission Form]
To
take a step closer to the art
and spirit of William Baziotes,
you have to take a step back
from what you think you know
about the history of modern
art. Many writers tell us he
was a brush-wielding member
of the Abstract Expressionist
club or connect him – and
rightly so – to the esprit
de corps found among the Surrealists
in America. Yet, his art work
and his sensibilities about
the world lead us on a far
more complicated odyssey.
William Baziotes was born
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
in 1912 to Stella and Frank
Angelus Baziotes, who were
Greek-Americans. A year later,
the family moved to Reading,
Pennsylvania, where he spent
his youth. Years later, Reading
would 
provide a welcomed and
necessary respite from the
artistic rigors of New York
City.
A loving brother, a devoted husband, a caring teacher are what we find in Baziotes, a man for whom integrity and eloquence meant everything. Yet, we cannot overlook the passion of the artist who embraced all within his grasp.
We must, for example, reconcile
a student of the art of boxing
with a devotee of classical
antiquity. Can work in a stained
glass factory, an appreciation
for the 18th-century French
classicist Jean-Auguste-Dominique
Ingres and a friendship with
the Chilean surrealist Roberto
Matta Echaurren possibly begin
to explain Baziotes’ love
of line and color? Can the
exoticism of 
Baudelaire’s
poetry find a parallel in the
wafting smoke from Bill’s
favorite cigarette. Yes is
the answer to all of these.
He had a never-tiring, never-casing commitment to universal motifs – the primordial, the cultural myth, the exploration of the psyche. He found a metaphor in the “arena.” However, his arena was not one of the bullfight or the gladiator. Rather it was one illuminating the struggle for perfection – for the survival of the essence of a thing – that was the greatest and most worthy of battles. It is in his watercolors and paintings that Baziotes gave full flight to his fancy.
Recent Exhibitions
Baziotes, Works on Paper. Joseph Helman Gallery, New York, New York. October 3-November 3, 2001. Brochure.
William Baziotes, Paintings and Drawings, 1934-1962. Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy (September 5, 2004-January 9, 2005). Catalogue.
William Baziotes, Retrospective Exhibition. Reading Public Museum, Reading, Pennsylvania. (February-May 2009). Catalogue.
Questions
Please email your questions or call Michael Preble at 757-423-3735 in Norfolk, Virginia.