Draft:William Frederick Fett

(William Fett) William Frederick Fett (Sep. 22, 1918, Ann Arbor, Michigan- Sep. 10, 2006, Mexico City, Mexico) was a romantic surrealist painter of American origin based in Mexico. He is best known for his watercolor paintings especially those portraying Mexican nature. His painting “Landscape of Michoacán” (1942) is an impressive representation of Fett´s technical mastery of watercolor and is currently part of the New York MoMA collection.

Life and career

Early years

Born in Michigan in 1918, Fett began painting in his early school years. It was a teacher who recommended him to apply to the Art Institute of Chicago School where he studied and graduated in 1941.

After winning a $2000 fellowship to travel to Mexico, he arrived in 1941 to Michoacán and was fascinated by the beautiful landscapes which would become an inspiration later in his career. Another important reason that motivated Fett to visit Mexico was the opportunity to study Mexican maestro José Clemente Orozco; Fett was particularly interested in in "Katharsis” Orozco’s mural at Bellas Artes Palace in Mexico City.

Time in Mexico

William Fett maintained a close relationship with Mexico, a country that significantly influenced his artistic work. One excellent example of Fett’s appreciation for Mexico is shown in his painting "Mexican Landscape" (1948) from the Amon Carter Museum of American Art collection. During his time in Mexico, Fett established strong friendships with Wolfgang Paalen, Esteban Francés, Gordon Onslow Ford, Eva Sulzer, Alice Rahon and Remedios Varo, surrealist painters who sought refuge in Mexico and other artists and personalities such as the poets Benjamin Peret and César Moro. His first marriage to Carmela Molina, daughter of Andrés Molina Enríquez, and his second marriage to Catalina Videgaray (both Mexicans) also strengthened his connection to this country where he was able to learn and develop his style taking him to his highest performance.

In Mexico, William Fett chose Michoacán as his main home and inspiration. Once there he found some beautiful and colorful spots (which he decided to portray in his artwork) such as Erongarícuaro and Lake Pátzcuaro. During his final years, he moved to Iztapalapa, in Mexico City.

Career

Teaching, exhibitions and other aspects of his professional life.

During his early years as an artist, he achieved recognition in solo exhibitions at the Durlacher Brothers Gallery in New York in 1943, 1946, and 1948 The positive response resulted in acquisitions of his artworks by the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago and others institutions. Some of his Mexican watercolors achieve the honor of being exhibited in a one-man room at the Art Institute of Chicago 55th Annual American Exhibition in 1944. His Watercolor Mexico Landscape was the front cover for the 59th Annual American Exhibition ­of the Art Institute of Chicago catalog

Work

Description of his style, recurring themes, and best-known pieces.

Development of style and technique: He identifies as a surrealist, romantic, and outsider. He uses graphic ideas from the quattrocento and trecento but with free and transparent handling. In 1946 he was appointed as a professor in the School of Fine Arts at the University of Washington in St. Louis, Missouri a position he served until 1981, when he retired as Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts. From 1982 through 1983, he was acting Professor of Painting at the San Antonio Art Institute in Texas. Leonel Góngora, a Colombian painter, and the critic Richard Kurman are two of his outstanding students. In addition to his teaching, he shared classrooms and learned from exceptional professors like Werner Drewes, who was part of the Bauhaus Movement, and Phillip Guston. After his success and recognition of his talent during the 1940s Fett left the mainstream rejecting the commercial artworld as an outsider focusing on his personal work which is now been revalorized by the public.

Fett is best known for his landscapes, especially those portraying Mexican nature. He is a classic example of a modern romantic artists and was one of the few American abstract surrealists. Most outstanding works and their impact: "Paisaje de Michoacán" (1942), "Into the Volcano", and "The Morning News". Fett emphasizes that things have a place in space and time and must be presented in a way in that their relationships are clear. Over time, Fett developed his style. Nowadays, he is best known for his exquisite use of expressive lines and chiaroscuro, and his luminous watercolor technique.

Surrealism

Art critics and experts agree that William Fett is a representative of the Surrealist Movement. Surrealism was an artistic movement that sought to transcend the reality through the imaginary and irrational. In this sense, Fett adopted techniques and styles that allowed for a more authentic and personal expression in his art. Moreover, Wolfgang Paalen, considered the introducer of surrealist painting in Mexico, who had previously been part of André Breton's surrealist circle in Paris in the 1930s, invited Fett as a contributor for the surrealist dissident art magazine DYN. The magazine enlisted several associated thinkers and artists, including Miguel Covarrubias, César Moro, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Gordon Onslow Ford, and Robert Motherwell. Each edition of the magazine was complemented by illustrations from a plethora of artists, including Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Alice Rahon, William Baziotes, Robert Motherwell, Roberto Matta, Jackson Pollock, Harry Holtzman, and Henry Moore.

External links

• William Fett