The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Water Form

1947

William Baziotes

(American, 1912–1963)
America
oil on canvas
Framed: 54 x 63.6 x 5.2 cm (21 1/4 x 25 1/16 x 2 1/16 in.); Unframed: 50.8 x 60.6 cm (20 x 23 7/8 in.)
Contemporary Collection of The Cleveland Museum of Art 1960.115
© Estate of William Baziotes
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Before developing a strong interest in making art, William Baziotes considered becoming a professional boxer.

Description

William Baziotes's Water Form appears to encapsulate his artistic statement: "My work is like the Caribbean Sea—beautiful, serene, and exotic on the surface. And all the time below are the sharks."
  • William Baziotes: Metamorphosis. Peggy Guggenheim Collection,The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Venice, Italy (organizer) (September 3, 2004-January 9, 2005).
    Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice: Palazzo Venier (9/3/2004 - 1/9/2005): "William Baziotes: Metamorphosis", ex. cat. no. 24, p.83.
    Year in Review - Nineteen Hundred Sixty. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 30, 1960-January 1, 1961).
    "Baziotes: New Paintings," Koontz Gallery, New York, April 7--26, 1947, no. 3.
  • {{cite web|title=Water Form|url=false|author=William Baziotes|year=1947|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1960.115