(b. 1911 -- d. 2012)
The career of iconic American artist Will Barnet spanned almost nine decades, and was marked by many historical milestones including his early involvement with the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration. A painter and master printmaker, Barnet is known for his strong compositions that feature children, women and animals in both domestic and dreamlike situations. His early work was strongly influenced by Social Realism, depicting the hardships of Depression-era life. After joining the Art student League as a printer, Barnet’s work moved into a Modernist period—his domestic interiors interspersed with geometric abstractions often associated with the Indian Space Painters. As he moved through various styles and movements, Barnet maintained a highly skilled, enigmatic technique that went on to influence an entire generation of artists including James Rosenquist and Cy Twombly.
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York.
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.
The British Museum, London, England.
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, New York.
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio.
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio.
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, New Hampshire.
William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, Rockland, Maine.
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York.
Honolulu Academy of Art, Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California.
Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, Tennessee.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, New York.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York.
National Academy Museum, New York, New York.
National Galley of Art, Washington, D.C.
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York.
The Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey.
The New York Public Library, New York, New York.
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut.
Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California.
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington.
Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, Kansas.
Tweed Museum of Art, University of Minnesota, Duluth, Minnesota.
University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, California.
University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, Iowa.
Washington University Art Collection, St. Louis, Missouri.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York.
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut.
