William Behnken – Nicki Solomon Fine Art

art

Pears, 1995, Aquatint
Signed, dated, and titled in pencil. Inscribed “xx/50.”
Size: 17 3/4 x 23 ¾ in (450 x 605 mm). Unframed
In the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Detail "Pears", 39 of 50
Still Life with Nautilus, Aquatint, 1994
Size 18 7/8 x 24 ¾ in (480 x 630 mm).
Signed, titled, and dated in pencil. Inscribed “xx/50.”
In the permanent collection of the New York Public Library.
Shadows & Substance, Aquatint, 1996
Signed, titled, and dated in pencil. Inscribed "xx/50."
This print is included in the permanent collections of the British Museum and the Art Students League.
Size 23 3/4 x 19 7/8 in (605 x 505 mm). Unframed

William Behnken - Aquatint - Still Life with Nautilus

William Behnken - Aquatint - Shadows & Substance

biography

William Behnken (1943-)

William Behnken is a lifelong resident of New York. He graduated from the High School of Music and Art and received his BA and MA from the City College of New York. Behnken has taught drawing and printmaking at the Provincetown Art Association, the National Academy of Design School of Fine Arts, and is currently an instructor in printmaking at the Art Students League and The City College of New York.
Behnken is a member and former president of the Society of American Graphic Artists (SAGA) and is an elected member of the National Academy of Design. His work has won many awards (see full biography) and has worked in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Fitzwilliam Museum, Brooklyn Museum, New York Historical Society, Mississippi Museum, and New York Public Library, among others.
Artist’s Statement
“In my work, I try to create a harmonious & cohesive composition using elements distilled from my visual & emotional experience in order to give fleeting moments a permanence and memorable order. Over a lifetime of working, I have found that for me, tonal values and light become the expressive equivalents of mystery & introspection, as well as for the ideals of resolution and fulfillment. I have come to focus my skills on printmaking because it offers me involvement in a medium that demands disciplined control, as well as a sensual & rich material experience.”