He was born in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond. On leaving school he was apprenticed to a company fitting out shops and making boxes.In later years when he was trying to establish himself in London, he would support himself by making picture frames.
At the age of 16 he began classes at the National Gallery School, including painting under William Dargie. He also took painting classes with the gently modernist painter, George Bell.
In 1950 he left Australia to further his studies in London. He furthered his studies at the Chelsea Art School, and also studied etching at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. His subject matter from these years was often figurative, as he drew elements of London life and music hall performers, almost in the tradition of Sickert usually on a small scale. These were years of considerable poverty for him, but he wanted to absorb as much knowledge about art as possible. Patrick McCaughey wrote that bq). He would allow himself a trifling sum, say half a
crown, for dinner but would frequently pass it up for an extra pint or two at the pub where Francis Bacon and his crew regularly drank.bq).
In 1956 his family were able to arrange a cheap passage home on one of the ships taking visitors to the Melbourne Olympics. Back in Melbourne he saw afresh both the landscape and the collections of the National Gallery of Victoria. These were both intellectually rigorous and emotionally responsive works. His understanding of the value of imagery meant that he was a surprise omission from Bernard Smith’s polemical Antipodean exhibition – especially as it otherwise included all his closest colleagues. But Smith rejected Williams’ essentially apolitical vision. Although he had an exhibiting profile, Williams was less than financially successful until after 1960.
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His first prints were made in the 1950s when he was living in London and are figurative and generally naturalistic. They include two series, one of characters from London music halls, the other of scenes of . Examples include 'Windmill Girls’ 1955-56, printed 1966, etching & drypoint, plate tone on blue paper, edn 23/28, 10.9 × 16.4 cm,
NGV, and 'Tumblers No.2’ 1956, a red chalk drawing transformed into an etching on zinc plate in 1961 after he returned to Melbourne. He continued to work on it until 1967 as well as painting two versions of the subject in oils.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2012
