A prolific author of scholarly books and articles, William H. Robinson has written extensively about 19th- and 20th-century European and American art with a particular focus on modernist culture and technical art history. He also serves as adjunct professor in the Department of Art History and Art at Case Western Reserve University (CASE).

Robinson has organized over thirty exhibitions, most notably: Picasso and Paper; Alberto Giacometti: Toward the Ultimate Figure; Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse; Van Gogh Repetitions; Picasso and the Mysteries of Life: La Vie; Barcelona & Modernity: Picasso, Gaudí, Miró, Dalí; and Diego Rivera: Art and Revolution. He has contributed essays to many museum catalogues, including Picasso Bleu et Rose (Musée d’Orsay); Viaje a través del azul: La Vida (Museu Picasso, Barcelona); and Cubisti cubismo: Picasso Braque, Léger, and the International Language of Cubism (Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome). His scholarly articles and reviews have appeared in Modern Art Criticism, American Art Review, New Art Examiner, Apollo, Inland Architecture, Sculpture Magazine, and The International Foundation for Art Research Journal. His museum acquisitions include paintings and sculptures by Frédéric Bazille, Max Beckmann, André Breton, Johan Christian Dahl, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernest, Marsden Hartley, Louis Hayet, Emil Nolde, Man Ray, and Augusta Savage.  

Robinson received his doctorate in art history from CASE, a certificate in Spanish language studies from the Universitat de Barcelona, and a certificate in management from the Weatherhead School of Management at CASE. He has served on various committees of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Ohio Arts Council, and for five years as president of the Ohio Museums Association.