About

William Utermohlen was born in south Philadelphia in 1933. He studied art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1957 and on the G.I. bill at the Ruskin School of Art in Oxford in 1957-58.

 

In 1962 he settled in London, where he met and married Patricia Redmond, who would later become an art historian herself. In 1969 he received his first important London show at the Marlborough Gallery. London life and London characters have most particularly marked his numerous portraits which constitute one of the richest aspects of his work. In the 1980s he painted two major murals for two North London institutions, the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St. John’s Wood and the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.

​

Apart from portraits, still lives and drawing from the model, all of which were maintained throughout his career, Bill's art can be arranged in six main thematic cycles: the "Mythological" paintings of 1962-63, the "Cantos" of 1964-1966 inspired by Dante's Inferno, the "Mummers" cycle of 1969-1970 depicting characters from South Philadelphia's New Year’s Day parade, the "War" series of 1972 alluding to the Vietnam war, the "Nudes" of 1973-74 and finally the "Conversation Pieces", the great decorative interiors with figures, of 1989-1990.

​

In 1995 Bill was diagnosed as suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Encouraged, by one of his clinical consultants, to keep up his artistic practice and focus on self portraits Bill's final works constitute a devastating chronicle of his mental and physical decline. These late self portraits have received much attention from the medical community for the insight into the psychological effects of the disease. They have been exhibited widely, studied and were the focus of a significant article published in the medical journal "The Lancet" in June 2001.

​

Bill made his last drawings in pencil from 2000 to 2002. He was taken care of by his wife, friends, and caregivers at home until his deterioration made his admission to the Princess Louise Nursing Home necessary in 2004. He died in Hammersmith Hospital in London on March 21, 2007.

​

The artist is represented by Chris Boïcos Fine Arts, Paris.

​

​