William Ivey

(American, born 1919, died 1992)

Northwest artist William Ivey (1919-1992) created expressive abstract paintings. A lush interplay of color characterizes his work.

Born in Seattle, Ivey studied at the Cornish College of the Arts before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II (1939-45). Following the war, he attended the California School of Fine Arts, where he studied under renowned artists Clyfford Still and Mark Rothko. He returned to Seattle in 1948. In the late 1950s, he started Seattle's first artist-owned co-operative gallery with artists Alden Mason, Margaret Tomkins, and others. The Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington in Seattle exhibited a major retrospective of his work in 1989.