William Congdon Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

William Congdon was born on 15 April 1912 in Providence, Rhode Island (USA). After graduating from Yale University between 1930 and 1934, he approached art and studied painting with Harry Hensche, drawing and sculpture with George Demetrios in Boston and Gloucester. Read the full biography

William Congdon Biography

William Congdon was born on 15 April 1912 in Providence, Rhode Island (USA). After graduating from Yale University between 1930 and 1934, he approached art and studied painting with Harry Hensche, drawing and sculpture with George Demetrios in Boston and Gloucester. He subsequently moved to Philadelphia, where he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts for a few months. During these years, he began to create his first works and, thanks to his travels in Europe, he had the opportunity to deal with different artistic traditions. During World War II, Congdon worked as a volunteer for the American Field Service, an experience that led him to travel to North Africa, Italy, France and Belgium, and inspired many of his works, such as drawings and sketches.

Once the war was over, Congdon decided to stay in Italy and contribute to the reconstruction of the areas most affected by the conflict. In 1948, he moved to New York, where he came into contact with the main artists of Abstract Expressionism. In 1949, he began exhibiting at the Betty Parsons Gallery and met Mark Rothko and Richard Pousette-Dart. His paintings of these years take the city as their main theme and, despite being influenced by Jackson Pollock's drip system and the work of Paul Klee, represent an important contribution to American art thanks to the perfect balance between Abstract Expressionism and figurative tradition European.

In the 1950s, despite his success in the United States, Congdon decided to move to Venice, where he met Peggy Guggenheim. The lagoon city, as well as his travels to Algeria, the Greek island of Santorini and Guatemala (to name a few), considerably influenced his painting. In 1959, Congdon converted to Catholicism and moved to Assisi, where he painted mainly religious subjects. He subsequently abandons this artistic movement and returns to work on his most common themes, maintaining a constant pace of work, despite a period without exhibitions.

William Congdon's language underwent a profound transformation, especially after his move in 1979 to Gudo Gambaredo, on the outskirts of Milan, where he died on 15 April 1998. Subsequently, several of his retrospectives were set up in Ferrara, Milan, Madrid and Providence (RI), where his artistic journey can be appreciated.