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William T. Williams Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, b. 1942 -

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  • William T. Williams (b. 1942), HKL Portfolio, 1970.
    Apr. 02, 2026

    William T. Williams (b. 1942), HKL Portfolio, 1970.

    Est: $3,000 - $5,000

    William T. Williams (b. 1942) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each signed and numbered 99/144 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published by HKL, Ltd., New York.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, HKL Portfolio
    Dec. 13, 2025

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, HKL Portfolio

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 HKL Portfolio 1970 portfolio of four original serigraphs screen printed on Rives BFK 16 x 12 inches (image) 23-1/2 x 17-1/2 inches (sheet) each signed and numbered 6/144 in pencil Printed By Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published By HKL, Ltd., New York. With The Justification Page.

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, HKL Portfolio
    Oct. 18, 2025

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, HKL Portfolio

    Est: $4,000 - $6,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 HKL Portfolio 1970 portfolio of four original serigraphs screen printed on Rives BFK 16 x 12 inches (image) 23-1/2 x 17-1/2 inches (sheet) each signed and numbered 6/144 in pencil Printed By Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published By HKL, Ltd., New York. With The Justification Page.

    Black Art Auction
  • William T Williams, b. 1942, Exodus
    Oct. 18, 2025

    William T Williams, b. 1942, Exodus

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    William T Williams b. 1942 Exodus c. 1970 color screen print on wove paper 16 x 11-1/2 inches, full margins signed, titled and numbered, 84/160

    Black Art Auction
  • William T Williams, B. 1942, Roseville
    Oct. 18, 2025

    William T Williams, B. 1942, Roseville

    Est: $40,000 - $60,000

    William T Williams B. 1942 Roseville c. 1971 acrylic and graphite on paper 43-1/2 x 33 inches signed, titled, and dated

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams (1942-), HKL Portfolio, 1970.
    Oct. 07, 2025

    William T. Williams (1942-), HKL Portfolio, 1970.

    Est: $5,000 - $7,000

    William T. Williams (1942-) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each signed and numbered 99/144 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published by HKL, Ltd., New York

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • Attrib. William T Williams (American, b. 1942) Abtract Modernist Painting
    Aug. 12, 2025

    Attrib. William T Williams (American, b. 1942) Abtract Modernist Painting

    Est: $100 - $1,000

    Attrib. William T Williams (American, b. 1942) Abtract Modernist Painting 20th century, American A geometric, modernist oil on canvas painting attributed to artist William T Williams (American, b. 1942). Features an abstract brightly colored central motif against a duller, color block background. Unsigned.

    Akiba Galleries
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Jul. 29, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Jun. 28, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, Ron's Tale
    Jun. 14, 2025

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, Ron's Tale

    Est: $3,500 - $4,500

    William T. Williams b. 1942 Ron's Tale 2006 serigraph 25-1/2 x 18 inches (image) 29-3/4 x 22 inches (sheet) signed, titled, dated and numbered 16/20

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen's Tale
    Jun. 14, 2025

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen's Tale

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 Karen's Tale 2008 serigraph 24 x 18 inches (image), 30 x 22 inches (sheet) Signed, titled, dated and numbered AP 1/9. Provenance: private collection, Atlanta, GA Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina. He received his BFA from the Pratt Institute in 1966, and his MFA from Yale in 1968. With only one year out of graduate school, the Museum of Modern Art acquired one of his works. Williams and Mel Edwards began the artist-in-residence program at the Studio Museum in Harlem. In 1975, he was invited by Bob Blackburn to work with the Printmaking Workshop in New York. For the next 22 years, the two collaborated to produce many images. In 2005, Williams was invited to create a print at the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, and in 2006, he served as an artist-in-residence at Lafayette College and the Experimental Printmaking Institute, working with master printmaker, Curlee Raven Holton (this image was executed there).

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    May. 24, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Apr. 23, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Untitled (from HKL Portfolio).
    Apr. 03, 2025

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Untitled (from HKL Portfolio).

    Est: $1,000 - $1,500

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Untitled (from HKL Portfolio). Color screenprint on Rives BFK paper, 1970. 413x295 mm; 16 ¼x11⅝ inches, full margins. Signed and numbered 110/144 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published by HKL, Ltd., New York.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Mar. 23, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen's Tale
    Mar. 15, 2025

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen's Tale

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 Karen's Tale 2008 serigraph 24 x 18 inches (image), 30 x 22 inches (sheet) Signed, titled, dated and numbered AP 1/9. Provenance: private collection, Atlanta, GA Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina. He received his BFA from the Pratt Institute in 1966, and his MFA from Yale in 1968. With only one year out of graduate school, the Museum of Modern Art acquired one of his works. Williams and Mel Edwards began the artist-in-residence program at the Studio Museum in Harlem. In 1975, he was invited by Bob Blackburn to work with the Printmaking Workshop in New York. For the next 22 years, the two collaborated to produce many images. In 2005, Williams was invited to create a print at the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, and in 2006, he served as an artist-in-residence at Lafayette College and the Experimental Printmaking Institute, working with master printmaker, Curlee Raven Holton (this image was executed there).

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Mar. 01, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Feb. 08, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Jan. 18, 2025

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • William T. Williams - "Exodus"
    Dec. 29, 2024

    William T. Williams - "Exodus"

    Est: $2,700 - $2,800

    William T. Williams - "Exodus". 1976. Limited Edition Lithograph of 160. Pencil Signed and Numbered by the Artist. 18 x 22. Excellent condition

    Bruce Teleky Inc.
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS, (American, b. 1942), HKL Portfolio, 1970, screenprint in colors, each plate: 16 x 11 1/2 in., each sheet: 19 3/4 x 13 1/8 in.
    Nov. 02, 2024

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS, (American, b. 1942), HKL Portfolio, 1970, screenprint in colors, each plate: 16 x 11 1/2 in., each sheet: 19 3/4 x 13 1/8 in.

    Est: $2,000 - $4,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio 1970, screenprint in colors each signed W.T. Williams and numbered printers proof lower right

    Grogan & Company
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Exodus.
    Oct. 03, 2024

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Exodus.

    Est: $2,500 - $3,500

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Exodus. Color screenprint on wove paper, circa 1970. 406x292 mm; 16x11½ inches, full margins. Signed, titled and numbered 116/160 in pencil, lower margin.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William T. Williams Signed Screenprint HKL Portfolio
    Apr. 27, 2024

    William T. Williams Signed Screenprint HKL Portfolio

    Est: $600 - $900

    Williams, William T. (American, b.1942), HKL 2 - from the HKL Portfolio, 1970, screenprint on BFK Rives, signed and numbered 76/144 in pencil to lower right, image 16 x 11.5 inches, matted and framed 24.5 x 19.5 inches. Printed by Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc. The full portfolio of 4 prints is found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) and the National Gallery in Washington, DC. Williams is one of the most important African-American artists of the second half of the 20th century.

    Concept Art Gallery
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b. 1942) Old Bethel acrylic and graphite on paper 55 1
    May. 18, 2023

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b. 1942) Old Bethel acrylic and graphite on paper 55 1

    Est: $40,000 - $60,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b. 1942) Old Bethel acrylic and graphite on paper 55 1/2 x 41 in. (141 x 104 cm.)

    Christie's
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.
    Apr. 06, 2023

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.

    Est: $6,000 - $9,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each 413x295 mm; 16 1/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Each signed and numbered 31/144 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published by HKL, Ltd., New York. Other sets are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the National Gallery, Washington, DC. The publisher HKL, Ltd. was created by Portia Harcus, Barbara Krakow and Vera List.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (B. 1942) What We Need acrylic on canvas 28 x 20 in. (
    Dec. 14, 2022

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (B. 1942) What We Need acrylic on canvas 28 x 20 in. (

    Est: $10,000 - $15,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (B. 1942) What We Need acrylic on canvas 28 x 20 in. (71.1 x 50.8 cm.)

    Christie's
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b. 1942) Stone by Stone/First Wife acrylic on two join
    Jul. 20, 2022

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b. 1942) Stone by Stone/First Wife acrylic on two join

    Est: $12,000 - $18,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (b. 1942) Stone by Stone/First Wife acrylic on two joined panels 44 1/4 x 14 in. (112.4 x 35.6 cm.)

    Christie's
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (B. 1942) - Untitled
    Jul. 19, 2022

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (B. 1942) - Untitled

    Est: $6,000 - $8,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (B. 1942) Untitled Each Image: 16 x 11 1⁄8 in. (406 x 283 mm.) Each Sheet: 23 3⁄8 x 17 1⁄2 in. (594 x 445 mm.) (4)

    Christie's
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, untitled
    Mar. 12, 2022

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, untitled

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 untitled n.d. color lithograph 16 x 11-1/2 inches (full margins) signed, titled and numbered 116/160 blind stamp

    Black Art Auction
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Caravan.
    Oct. 07, 2021

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Caravan.

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Caravan. Color lithograph on cream wove paper, 1991. 984x666 mm; 38 3/4x26 1/4 inches, full margins. Signed, titled, dated and numbered 10/19 in pencil, lower margin. Printed and published by the Oberon Press Inc., New York. Another impression is in the permanent collection of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William T. Williams (b. 1942) Congo Square acrylic on panel 14 7/8 x 15 ½ i
    Jul. 21, 2021

    William T. Williams (b. 1942) Congo Square acrylic on panel 14 7/8 x 15 ½ i

    Est: $8,000 - $12,000

    William T. Williams (b. 1942) Congo Square acrylic on panel 14 7/8 x 15 ½ in. (37.8 x 39.4 cm.)

    Christie's
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.
    Apr. 22, 2021

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.

    Est: $7,000 - $10,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each 413x295 mm; 16 1/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Each signed and numbered 83/144 in pencil, lower margin. Printed by Charles Cardinale, Fine Creations, Inc., New York. Published by HKL, Ltd., New York. With the justification page. Other portfolios are in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the National Gallery, Washington, DC. The publisher HKL, Ltd. was created by Portia Harcus, Barbara Krakow and Vera List.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen’s Tale
    Feb. 06, 2021

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen’s Tale

    Est: $1,000 - $2,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 Karen’s Tale 2008 serigraph 24 x 18 inches signed, dated, titled, and numbered Curlee Raven Holton, master printer

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams (b. 1942) - Congo Square
    Dec. 15, 2020

    William T. Williams (b. 1942) - Congo Square

    Est: $12,000 - $15,000

    William T. Williams (b. 1942) Congo Square signed, titled and dated ‘William T. Williams 99 “Congo Square”’ (on the reverse) acrylic on plywood 14 7/8 x 15 1/2 in. (37.8 x 39.4 cm.) Painted in 1999.

    Christie's
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, Bee's Quest, Serigraph, 24 x 18 inches
    Nov. 14, 2020

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, Bee's Quest, Serigraph, 24 x 18 inches

    Est: $2,000 - $3,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 Bee's Quest Serigraph 2008 Signed, titled, dated and numbered 17/25. This is number 17 from an edition of 25. 24 x 18 inches (image), 30 x 22 inches (sheet). Williams was born in Cross Creek, North Carolina. He received his BFA from the Pratt Institute in 1966, and his MFA from Yale in 1968. With only one year out of graduate school, the Museum of Modern Art acquired one of his works. Williams and Mel Edwards began the artist-in-residence program at the Studio Museum in Harlem. In 1975, he was invited by Bob Blackburn to work with the Printmaking Workshop in New York. For the next 22 years, the two collaborated to produce many images. In 2005, Williams was invited to create a print at the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, and in 2006, he served as an artist-in-residence at Lafayette College and the Experimental Printmaking Institute, working with master printmaker, Curlee Raven Holton (this image was executed there). 24 x 18 inches

    Black Art Auction
  • William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen''s Tale, Serigraph, 24 x 18 inches
    May. 16, 2020

    William T. Williams, b. 1942, Karen''s Tale, Serigraph, 24 x 18 inches

    Est: $1,500 - $2,000

    William T. Williams b. 1942 Karen's Tale Serigraph 2008 signed, titled, dated and numbered 28/50 24 x 18 inches

    Black Art Auction
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.
    Oct. 04, 2018

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.

    Est: $6,000 - $9,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each 413x295 mm; 16 1/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Each signed and numbered 24/144 in pencil, lower margin. With the justification page.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.
    Oct. 05, 2017

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.

    Est: $6,000 - $9,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each 413x295 mm; 16 1/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Each signed and numbered 33/144 in pencil, lower margin. With the justification page.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Chuckerbootstar Last.
    Apr. 07, 2016

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Chuckerbootstar Last.

    Est: $50,000 - $75,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Chuckerbootstar Last. Acrylic on cotton canvas, 1972-73. 2032x1524 mm; 84x60 inches. Signed, titled and dated in red ink, verso. Provenance: the Best Products corporate art collection; private collection, New Jersey. Chuckerbootstar Last represents the evolution of the artist's important geometric abstraction in the early 1970s. William T. Williams has harmonized a geometric composition in deep secondary colors--purples, greens and browns--with a carefully textured surface. The paintings from this period mark a transition from the high key colors found in the body of work shown in his Reese-Palley solo exhibition two years earlier. Holland Cotter in The New York Times described Williams's new abstraction, in a similar work: "Nu Nile (1973), finds the artist subtly altering a Minimalist model. The grid format has been broken up into a patchwork of odd geometric shapes tilted on a diagonal. The forms are separated by impasto ridges, making the painting look welded together. A pearlescent medium mixed into the monochromatic gray acrylic lends the surface a metallic sheen. As if to jazz up a simulated high-tech formalism, Mr. Williams marks the surface with a pattern of feathered brush strokes that have a mechanical regularity but catch the light like the ripples in watered silk." Other works from this period include Skowhegan I, 1973, in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum. They also precede the warmer, earthier palette inspired by "the dusty unpaved roads of North Carolina," according to David Driskell, found in paintings like Indian Summer, 1973.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...99/
    Jan. 22, 2016

    William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...99/

    Est: $2,500 - $3,500

    William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...99/144" in pencil l.r. Color screenprints on heavy wove paper, image sizes 16 1/8 x 11 5/8 in. (40.8 x 29.4 cm), framed. Condition: Not examined out of frames.

    Skinner
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.
    Dec. 15, 2015

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.

    Est: $10,000 - $15,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio. Set of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. Each 413x295 mm; 16 1/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Each signed and numbered 33/144 in pencil, lower margin. With the justification page.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...22/
    May. 29, 2015

    William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...22/

    Est: $3,000 - $5,000

    William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...22/144" in pencil l.r. Color screenprints on heavy wove paper, image sizes 16 1/8 x 11 5/8 in. (40.8 x 29.4 cm), unmatted, unframed. Condition: Good. N.B. Williams was encouraged to become an artist by Jacob Lawrence. In 1986 Williams became the first African American artist to be included in H.W. Janson's History of Art.

    Skinner
  • William Earle Williams: Boyd's Landing, South Carolina, 1999, archival pigment print, signed verso
    Oct. 11, 2014

    William Earle Williams: Boyd's Landing, South Carolina, 1999, archival pigment print, signed verso

    Est: $1,300 - $2,600

    Boyd's Landing, South Carolina, 1999, archival pigment print, signed verso, Image size: 12"x12",

    The Photo Review
  • William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...52/
    Sep. 19, 2014

    William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...52/

    Est: $1,500 - $2,000

    William Thomas Williams (American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...52/144" in pencil l.r. Color screenprints on heavy wove paper, image sizes 16 1/8 x 11 5/8 in. (40.8 x 29.4 cm), unmatted, unframed. Condition: Good.

    Skinner
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Truckin.
    Jun. 10, 2014

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Truckin.

    Est: $75,000 - $100,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Truckin. Acrylic on cotton canvas, 1969. 2032x1524 mm; 84x60 inches. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed in pencil, verso on the stretcher bars. Provenance: private California collection; gifted to California State University, Fullerton, CA (1998). Truckin is a significant early painting, and the earliest painting by this important African-American artist to date to come to auction. It is an excellent example of William T. Williams' first year of painting after completing his MFA from Yale University, with the imagery that quickly gained him an international recognition as an abstract painter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Williams' talents had been recognized from an early age. He was accepted in the summer before his senior year at Pratt Institute to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture before receiving his B.A. in 1966. After earning his M.F.A. from Yale University in 1968, he participated in The Black Artist in America: A Symposium, held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Williams's abstract painting achieved early institutional recognition when the Museum of Modern Art, New York, purchased his 1969 painting Elbert Jackson L.A.M.F., Part II. His paintings were also included in such important exhibitions as the Studio Museum in Harlem's Inaugural Show, the Whitney Biennial and New Acquisitions at the Museum of Modern Art. In 1970, both the Jewish Museum, New York, and the Menil Collection, Houston, commissioned paintings. Sweets Crane, 1969, in the collection of New York State at the Empire State Plaza shares the mixture of warm, earthy tones with high key colors found in the palette of Truckin. Another 1969 painting Trane, in the collection of the Studio Museum in Harlem, was recently exhibited in the 2012 group exhibition Blues for Smoke exhibition at MOCA, Los Angeles. Many of his 1969 paintings share titles that reveal Williams' interest in jazz; "truckin" was an expression used by musicians, and the title of a Fats Waller song. Jones pp. 16-17; Powell/Reynolds pp. 235-6.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • William Thomas Williams (African American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered
    Feb. 07, 2014

    William Thomas Williams (African American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered

    Est: $3,000 - $5,000

    William Thomas Williams (African American, b. 1942) HKL Portfolio/A Suite of Four Works, 1970, edition of 144. Each signed and numbered "...55/144" in pencil l.r., identified on the colophon. Color screenprints on heavy wove paper, image sizes 16 1/8 x 11 5/8 in. (40.8 x 29.4 cm), unmatted, unframed. Condition: Margins 3 inches or more. N.B. Williams was encouraged to become an artist by Jacob Lawrence. In 1986 he became the first African American artist included in H.W. Janson's History of Art.

    Skinner
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Chuckerbootstar Last.
    Oct. 03, 2013

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Chuckerbootstar Last.

    Est: $75,000 - $100,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) Chuckerbootstar Last. Acrylic on cotton canvas, 1972-73. 2032x1524 mm; 84x60 inches. Signed, titled and dated in red ink, verso. Provenance: private collection. Chuckerbootstar Last represents the evolution of the artist's important geometric abstraction in the early 1970s. William T. Williams has harmonized a geometric composition in deep secondary colors--purples, greens and browns--with a carefully textured surface. The paintings from this period mark a transition from the high key colors found in the body of work shown in his Reese-Palley solo exhibition two years earlier. Holland Cotter in The New York Times described Williams's new abstraction, as found in a similar work: "Nu Nile (1973), finds the artist subtly altering a Minimalist model. The grid format has been broken up into a patchwork of odd geometric shapes tilted on a diagonal. The forms are separated by impasto ridges, making the painting look welded together. A pearlescent medium mixed into the monochromatic gray acrylic lends the surface a metallic sheen. As if to jazz up a simulated high-tech formalism, Mr. Williams marks the surface with a pattern of feathered brush strokes that have a mechanical regularity but catch the light like the ripples in watered silk." Other works from this period include Skowhegan I, 1973, in the collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum. They also precede the warmer, earthier palette inspired by "the dusty unpaved roads of North Carolina," according to David Driskell, found in paintings like Indian Summer, 1973. This is the first significant work by the artist made after 1971 to come to auction.

    Swann Auction Galleries
  • WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.
    Oct. 03, 2013

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio.

    Est: $10,000 - $15,000

    WILLIAM T. WILLIAMS (1942 - ) HKL Portfolio. Group of four color screenprints on Rives BFK paper, 1970. 413x295 mm; 16 1/4x11 5/8 inches, full margins. Each signed and numbered 33/144 in pencil, lower margin. With the justification page. This is the first time the complete HKL portfolio appears at auction.

    Swann Auction Galleries
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