In William Nichols' large-scale paintings, the viewer is immersed within a lushly blooming garden or a densely wooded forest. It is a contemporary look at landscape generated out of American traditions of realism. Nichols' overlaying of transparent glazes creates a rich tapestry of sensuous color and texture.
"...I use the landscape for what it is capable of generating; great beauty, sensuality and a sense of time. I have pursued these qualities through looking at landscape--close up as opposed to a traditional vista or distanced viewpoint. The peculiar sense of intimacy that this achieves, I have tried to heighten through the large scale of work and by handling the paint in a way that imparts a sensual and tactile awareness of surface at close range." -William Nichols
SELECTED MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, R.O.C.; Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK; Nevada Institute for Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, NV; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID; Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL; Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Women's College, Lynchburg, VA; The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Taft Museum, Cincinnati, OH
SARATOGA SLOW STREAM, Oil on Linen, 42 1/2 x 73 1/2"
