William Douglas McGee (1925 - 1999)
"Blue Wing," 1987;
Oil and watercolor on paper
Signed lower right, titled verso

William Douglas McGee was a prolific artist and teacher. His time at the historic Black Mountain College placed him in the center of the art world and drove his development as an accomplished artist. He is best known for his early abstract oil paintings, mixed-media collages, and large color-field paintings that are exhibited in MOMA, the Dallas Museum of Fine Art, the Chicago Art Institute, and other museums.

While teaching at Brown, William began to shift his art from black-and-white oils to an intense study of collages. The collages were fragments of painted paper, torn and repainted; often, canvas and magazine reproductions were glued in, and letters were brought in for abstract purposes, not for their original meaning. He was signed to the Grace Borgenicht Gallery, where the collages were shown at several one-man and group shows from 1956-1962.

In 1978, tragedy struck as William's house burnt down, destroying about 30% of his life's work. The tragedy brought an end to the Color Field period, and William reverted back to the collage period by making assemblages of cloth, paper, and metal from the wreckage. William remained a very active artist until his death in 1999. 

28" W x 32.5" H

A11468