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Artist: William Melton Halsey (American, 1915-1999)
Abstract expressionist painter whose work was influential in the American southeast, particularly in his home state of South Carolina. Halsey studied at the University of South Carolina and later at the school of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under Alexander Lacovleff and Karl Zerbe. He taught at the Gibbes Art Gallery and the Charleston School of Art, and founded the Studio Art Department at the College of Charleston. Halsey credits the area he grew up in, Charleston, SC, as a source of inspiration in his artwork. Halsey stands out as the southern artist who pioneered a style of appreciation for the abstract in a region steeped in realism. He is known for his paintings, collages, and sculptures that are full of explosive colors, geometric shapes, textures, fabrics, and materials.