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William
Scharf
Augur Pool, 1968
Oil on paper,
19.5" x 24.5"4 |
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William
Scharf
Two Swimmers, 1955
Oil on paper, 4" x 5.5" |
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The dreamlike imagery and translucent colors of artist William Scharf have escaped definition throughout the artist's long career. Characterized by a distinctive blend of abstract expressionism, surrealism, and individual vision, Scharf's work has long been recognized by certain artists and critics. His paintings can be found in public collections across the country including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the National Museum of American Art, and The Phillips Collection.
Scharf's work, which brings to mind the paintings of Arshile Gorky and Mark Rothko, for whom he served as a studio assistant, has been considered second generation abstract expressionist. His sources and references, however, extend to the bizarre imagery of Odilon Redon and the expressive use of color of Wassily Kandinsky.
Scharf was inspired in his artistic pursuits as a youth by N.C. Wyeth, who facilitated his admission to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. After serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps, Scharf resumed his studies with classes at the Barnes Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania and with European travel and study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiére in Paris. After traveling to South America as a seaman on a tanker and working as a clown diver in a Florida aquacade, Scharf settled in New York in 1952, where he later met Rothko.
Although he draws on sources as varied as Fra Angelico, Redon, and Kandinsky, Scharf's imagery is ultimately the product of an inner, nocturnal world, come to life in organic shapes, enigmatic symbols, and sweeping gestures.
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