William Corbett, Ft. Lauderdale. Watercolor, 11 by 15 inches.
Artist William Corbett moved to Ft. Lauderdale from Louisville, Kentucky in 1950. He began drawing at an early age and, after study at the Pittsburgh Art Institute, did signs and displays for theaters and night clubs in Pittsburgh area. His paintings won prizes all over the United States. In his work Corbett was interested in materials, technique, content, and style. His favorite artists include El Greco, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Renoir, Burchfield and Andrew Wyeth. Favorite subjects include horses, clowns and Don Quixote. Corbett suffered from rheumatic fever, contracted while serving with the Army during World War II. His last work was a reproduction of The Last Supper. Called by some critics the El Greco of the United States, he died at the age of forty-six, at the Veteran’s Hospital in Coral Gables.
Born: Pittsburgh, Pa., June 21, 1914.
Died: September 1960, Coral Gables.
Education: With Vincent Nesbert, Pittsburgh Art Institute; With Robert Gwathmey, Roy Hilton, Robert Leper, Carnegie Institute of Technology: Louisville Art Center, 1943; Boston Museum School with Karl Zerbe, David Aronson.
Exhibits: Army Art Shows, Fort Knox, Kentucky, 1941-1943, 1st prize, landscape, 1942; Kentucky & southern Indiana exhibition, honorable mention, 1947, Ravens Roost; 1949, Fisherman’s Curse; 1952, Don Q; Boca Raton Art Exhibit, 1954, merit award, oil, Don Quixote; 1957, first prize in oil, Rust, a trompe L’oeil; 1958, honorable mention, Three Guitars; Harry Rich Florida Art Competition, 1956, popular prize, Buckskin, a trompe Ll’oeil; Harry Rich Florida Art Competition, 1957, first prize, Legacy, a trompe L’oeil. Florida Federation of Art — Award, Don Quixote, Lacquer, 1957; Florida Federation of Art, 32nd Annual Exhibition, November 13-28, 1958, Daytona Beach, polymer tempera, Old House. One-man exhibits, Little Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky; Miami Beach Art Center; Hollywood, Florida Public Library; Broward Art Guild; Boca Raton Art Guild; Florida Federation of Art.
Directory: Listed in the Ft. Lauderdale City Directory, 1955-57, 1959, as an artist with studio at 1143 N.W. 14th Ct.
