'Women Gathering Garlands' by Frederick Ballard Williams, 1906, Paris, Cooper Union, Metropolitan Museum, National Academy of Design, National Gallery

Description

Signed lower right, 'Fred. Ballard Williams' for Frederick Ballard Williams (American, 1871-1956) and dated 1906.

An early twentieth-century oil showing … more Signed lower right, 'Fred. Ballard Williams' for Frederick Ballard Williams (American, 1871-1956) and dated 1906.

An early twentieth-century oil showing two young women in classical robes, one standing holding a polished silver mirror while her companion braids her hair with flowers, all beneath a canopy of foliage with a distant view beyond towards a body of blue water.

Frederick Ballard Williams first artistic training took place artistic training took place at the Cooper Union in New York and he subsequently worked for a time in the drafting room of John Williams. He later studied at the New York Institute of Artists with John Ward Stimson, before enrolling in the life class of the National Academy of Art where he studied under Charles Yardley Turner and Edgar Melville Ward.

Williams made two trips to Europe, first in 1904 and again in 1908. During his first trip, he visited France, staying with Henry Golden Dearth in Montreuil-sur-mer. On his second trip, he toured England and Wales for several months. He supported himself during this period by teaching in private schools.

In 1910 Williams made his first of two trips to the Grand Canyon as a guest of the Santa Fe Railroad, with the painters Thomas Moran, Elliott Daingerfield, Douglas Parshall and Edward Potthast. He returned in 1912. This group and these trips were the basis for the formation of the Society of Painters of the Far West. Additionally, Williams often went on sketching trips along the Mystic River during the spring and fall with the painter Henry Ward Ranger.

Williams was best known for his decorative, romantic fantasies of women in landscapes. He exhibited widely, and his awards included a bronze medal at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo in 1901, as well was a silver medal from the American Art Society in 1902. He was also an active member of the art community, serving at various times as a member of the Municipal Art Commission of the City of New York and the Arts Council of the City of New York. In 1928, Williams organized and became the national chairman of the American Artists, Professional League. Additionally, he served as the assistant treasurer of the National Academy of Design from 1930 to 1940, and, thereafter, as treasurer until 1949.

Over the course of a long and successful career, Frederick Ballard Williams exhibited widely and with success and was the recipient of numerous prizes, medals and juried awards. His work is held in prominent private and public collections nationwide including in the permanent collection of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and in the National Gallery in Washington D.C. The artist is also listed in all relevant art reference works including Who Was Who in American Art and Benizet's Dictionary of Artists.

Reference:
Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975: 400 Years of Artists in America, Peter Hastings Falk, Sound View Press 1999, Vol. 3, page 3577; E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs, et Graveurs, Jacques Busse, 1999 Nouvelle Édition, Gründ 1911, Vol. 9, page 625; Mallett’s Index of Artists, Daniel Trowbridge Mallett, Peter Smith: New York 1948 Edition, R.R. Bowker Company 1935, page 477; Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary of American Painters, Sculptors and Engravers, Glen B. Opitz, Apollo Press 1983, page 1013; et al. less