William Duffy is both a landscape painter and a marine painter. He was born in Boston in 1948 and was educated at the Worcester Art Museum School, Clark University and the former Architectural Center.
He finds a great deal of inspiration for his landscapes and marines in Nantucket, the Azores, Ireland, Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and along the Hudson River. His work has been exhibited in leading galleries in the northeast United States and is collected across the U.S. and abroad. He is a Fellow in The American Society of Marine Artists and his work has been exhibited in several art museums in the U.S.
William is a member of The Oil Painters of America and won an Award of Excellence at their national show in his first exhibition. William also won the Award for Excellence in his first exhibition at the Annual International Marine Art Exhibition held at the Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut in 1997 followed by several Awards of Excellence in the years that followed. He has been the subject of articles in U.S. Art, Art Trends and Sea History.
Russ Kramer, President of The American Society of Marine Artists said this about William’s work: “Fellow William P. Duffy is a grandmaster of the elements in a painting which, in my opinion separate the truly great landscape painter from the rest of us mortals. The authenticity of different effects of light and atmosphere; deft, expressive brushwork and subtle modulation of colors within colors; and most extraordinarily, the ability, to evoke in the viewer a certain mood, elevates Bill’s work to the highest level.”
William is an artist member of the Copley Society in Boston and former Managing Fellow and current Fellow of The American Society of Marine Artists, which is an organization of 500 artist members and 27 Fellows. All of the Fellow artists are famous in the genres of Marine and Landscape painting. William is pleased and honored to call these artists both friends and colleagues. William recently wrote an article explaining and illustrating his painting technique for the ASMA quarterly journal. From 1993 through 2005, Bill has exhibited at the Mystic International as well as the 1994 through 2006 Spring Mystic Invitational Exhibits at the Mystic Seaport Museum, CT. At his first International Show, judged by George Plimpton, founder of the Paris Review, and Stephen Doherty, Editor of American Artist, he received an “Award of Excellence”. In the 1998 Show, judged by James Taylor of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England, and Peter Sutton, Director of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT, Bill was honored with another “Award of Excellence”. Judges Stephen S. Lash, Chairman of Christie's Americas, John Carter, President of Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, and Dawn Riley, CEO and Captain of the America's Cup contender, “America True”, gave Bill the 2004 International Show's “Award of Excellence”.
From time to time William conducts painting workshops and has done so privately for eighteen years, in New York, Nantucket and Cape Cod and at: Lyme Academy College of Fine Art, Ct.; Lyme and Rowayton Art Associations, Ct.; Portland Museum of Art School, Maine.
Many museums have exhibited Bill’s paintings, including the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum – St. Michaels, Maryland; Noyes Museum of Art – Oceanville, New Jersey; Spartanburg Art Museum – Spartanburg, South Carolina; New Bedford Art Museum – New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Williams most recent award is The Award of Excellence 2018 given to him September 2018 at the International Marine Art and Exhibition, Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Connecticut.
With over 40 years of painting Nantucket landscapes and seascapes, he is one of the finest artists active today capturing the natural beauty of Nantucket Island.