William Charles Utermohlen

About

Figurative artist who died in obscurity, his later work -- mostly self portraits -- gained prominence and posthumous renown due to their reflection of the nature of his illness. Not long before his 60th birthday, he was diagnosed with advancing Alzheimer's Disease that greatly affected the technique and appearance of his artwork. After the diagnosis in 1995, he was only able to paint for five more years, which is when his wife believes he actually passed on. However, he would be able to draw some until 2002 and live at home until 2004. He lived three more years in the home before dying of Pneumonia in 2007. 

Before Fame

His works prior to his diagnosis are grouped into 6 different periods or cycles of expression: Mythological (1962-1963), Cantos (1964-1966), Mummers (1969-1970), War (1972-1973), Nudes (1973-1974), and Conversation (1989-1991). Throughout the 90s, and especially in his works in the Conversation period, signs of his approaching diagnosis are evident. The works are nostalgic in nature focusing on the life he had with his wife, but shifting perceptions of space, objects, and people are evident in the faces and objects within the pieces. 

Trivia

It is postulated that many of his later works are heavily influenced by the studies and paintings done by Francis Bacon that greatly distort realistic figures in an abstract faction that captured a number of art movements of the time: Expressionism, Surrealism, and even elements of Cubism. 

Family Life

He married Patricia Redmond in 1965 and they were married until his death in 2007. They met and lived in England. 

Associated With

It was actually a trip he made just after his diagnosis with his wife to see Diego Velázquez's 1650 Portrait of Pope Innocent X that first spurned his interest in the reinterpretation of great western pieces by the painter Francis Bacon as well as his lifelong admiration of the Baroque style of art for which Velázquez is a prominent figure in.