December 1, 2007 – January 19, 2008
William Wolff (1922 – 2004)
1950s and 1960s Paintings From the Estate

Charles Campbell Gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of William F. Wolff paintings from the 1950s and 1960s. These works trace the development of Wolff’s style over a period of two decades and provide an exciting view of mid century modernism. Early paintings of abstracted still lifes and figures from the 1950s gradually give way to mythologically-inspired subjects.

Wolff initially worked in a style that brought together Abstract Expressionist improvisation and Cubist structure to traditional subject matter. He shared studio space with James Weeks in the early Post War years and both artists shared an interest in experimenting with materials and techniques. Works in this show are oil and tempera, perhaps house paint, on canvas and masonite.

Early works typifying the Bay Area Figurative Movement gradually evolved into myth inspired subjects. They were further elaborated in the bold, expressive woodcuts that Wolff began working with in the 1960s. He is more well known today for his print works, though his first show of paintings was at the Lucien Labaudt Gallery, one of the most important for the Bay Area school, in 1951.

William Wolff was born in SF in 1922 and studied at the California School of Fine Arts (now the SFAI) and received his Bachelors and Masters degrees from UC Berkeley. Additionally, he studied with Rupert Garcia, Gordon Cook and Max Beckmann.

Thomas Albright, the well-known and respected Bay Area art critic, found in Wolff’s paintings of this period a sensibility reminiscent of William Blake’s. This show brings to light a trove of paintings that have rarely been seen since the 1960s and document the artists’ journey from realism to symbolism, from visible to invisible.

Tuesday – Saturday noon to 5:00
Reception Saturday December 1, 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Contact: Steven Lopez; or visit our website, www.campbellgallerysf.com

Astral Theater, Oil and Tempera Painting on Masonite, 1960s, 60” x 72”

See more paintings here

William Wolff - Invisible City at Warnock Fine Arts, July 2007

William Wolff
William Wolff, an artist known for his bold woodcut prints on literary and mythological subjects, was born in 1922 in San Francisco. Wolff lived his entire life in that city. After attending Galileo High School with fellow artist and lifelong friend James Weeks, Wolff studied at the California School of Fine Arts, now the San Francisco Art Institute, in the early 1940s. During World War II he served in the European Theater with the 16th Army Compass Corps. Returning to his art studies, Wolff received a MA in art in 1951 from the University of California at Berkeley, sharing a studio with Weeks in the Marina district from 1949 to 1955. Wolff spent the summer of 1950 studying at Mills College with visiting German artist Max Beckmann, whose powerful personality left an indelible stamp on many Bay Area painters including Wolff. His first major exhibition was at the Lucien Labaudt Gallery, a showcase for young artists which introduced many artists of the Bay Area Figurative Movement. He taught at the San Francisco School District’s Youth Guidance Center from 1957 to 1983.

In the early 1960s Wolff found his artistic direction making woodcut prints, using the modernist flattening and compression developed in his earlier paintings to explore the religious, philosophical and literary themes gleaned from his extensive reading in several languages. He worked for more than thirty years at the Graphic Arts Workshop, a cooperative print shop in San Francisco, and served as president of the California Society of Printmakers from 1988 to 1990. He encouraged younger artists generously, although he was reticent regarding his own distinctive humanistic work.

A retrospective of his work was held at St. Mary’s College in Moraga in 2002. His work is in several private and public collections, including the Achenbach Collection at the Legion of Honor, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the New York Public Library, the Oakland Museum of California and the Library of Congress.