JWK BIO
J. WILLIAM KENNEDY (1903-1996)
had a long and prolific painting and teaching career.
He was a graduate of the Cincinnati Art Academy
and Carnegie Tech, a Fellow of the Tiffany Foundation
in New York, and held a Master's Degree from
the University of Illinois.
His early years were spent painting
at the artist meccas of the 1920s:
Taormina, Sicily
Taos, New Mexico
Provincetown, Massachusetts
William visited Provincetown for the first time in 1925,
a place he would be associated with
for the next seventy years.
In the summer of 1928, he drove the unpaved roads
west to Taos, strapping his canvases
to the running boards of his 1927 Chevrolet,
and, on one occasion, was pulled by mules
to negotiate the washed out highway.
He did a series of portraits of the Taos Pueblo
natives that summer.
The year of 1930 was spent painting in Paris,
with a side trip via bicycle to Concarneau in Brittany.
He returned to Paris and Concarneau in 1931
for a two year period, spending the summer
of 1932 painting in Taormina, Sicily.
Kennedy was a Professor of Art
at the University of Illinois for 44 years.
In Illinois, he was acclaimed for his landscapes,
helping to develop a style that became
known as "American Scene".
His many portraits included the presidents
of several universities.
In addition to teaching courses in painting and drawing,
William taught courses in frame making,
as well as being one of the first professors
in the U.S. to teach classes
in Materials and Techniques.
He built his own frames, hand carving them.
as well as surfacing them with gold or silver leaf.
His "Pastose White" was marketed for many years
by Permanent Pigments, and was touted
as being the purest white oil paint made.
He also developed acrylic paints that allowed
for extremely textured underpainting.
For five decades, he summered at Cape Cod
in the fishing (and former whaling) village of Wellfleet
Here he built a studio, took on students,
and exhibited as a Life Member of the
Provincetown Art Association.
His Cape Cod paintings are highly prized
by eastern collectors.
After retiring, Kennedy built a home and studio
in Clearwater, FL. and wintered there.
While William was an accomplished technical painter,
his later years were spent intensely exploring
abstraction and formulating new media.
He continued painting until the age of 88,
and lived to be 92.
EXHIBITIONS
The Corcoran Museum, Washington, D.C.
The Virginia Museum , Richmond, VA.
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH.
Toledo Art Museum, Toledo, OH.
Pennsylvania Academy, Philadelphia, PA.
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI.
Kansas City Art Museum, Kansas City, MO.
Palace of Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA.
Provincetown Art Association, Provincetown, MA.
three National Exhibitions of American Painting,
Rockefeller Center, N.Y.C.
seven one-man exhibitions in Cincinnati, OH.
PUBLICATIONS
Art Digest
Time Magazine
Unterweggs (West Germany)
has been represented by galleries in:
New York, Chicago, Boston,
Wellfleet, MA., Sarasota, FL.
some 180 paintings are currently in private collections.