About The Artist
Bill Haffner is a Conceptual and Abstract Expressionist painter. He has spent nearly a quarter century immersed in the electric local and international art scene as an artist, art gallery director, contemporary fine art dealer and broker.
In addition to being a painter himself, he has a high level of expertise in 20th century art and has built fine art collections for distinguished clients worldwide.
Born and raised on Long Island, New York, Bill's early years were steeped in all of the arts – galleries, live theatre, film, jazz and classical music. He credits his appreciation of fine art to the New York School artists, the original founders of the abstract art movement,
post WW ll.
His parents were equally appreciative of the arts and encouraged Bill to follow his passion.
His formal education was from the Cooper School of Art in Cleveland, Ohio and ultimately made his way to the West Coast by way of Chicago and the Hawaiian Islands, always in association with his fine art career.
His passion for art from the late 1940s' to the late1 980s' has made its way into his work – abstract, graphic, gritty, organic. His layering style captures the true intent of the paint. Paint to canvas is the main axiom for the work. Large open canvas, relational painting with thematic elements is what comprises the work. With a few different painting styles, less is sometimes more and reflected in his canvas representation. Idiographic and ameba like soft shapes also add to his stylized formats, enabling the viewer to sense a feeling of calm.
Bill has left Los Angeles to take up residence in Sarasota Florida on the Gulf of Mexico. Here he works with local design firms helping them to complete aspects of their client assignments. His work lends to the design element the firm and the client are trying to accomplish.
Bill's work can be viewed in exhibit settings and online art gallery sites in addition to this website.