Sculptor William King Dies at 89, Remembered for Humane Figurative Work

William King, the American sculptor known for his witty, economical figurative works, died on March 3, 2015, at his home in Springs, New York, under hospice care. He was 89. A former president of the National Academy of Design, King was a beloved figure in the Hamptons art community alongside his wife, painter Connie Fox. A memorial will be held at Guild Hall in East Hampton on May 23, 2015. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1925, King studied at Cooper Union alongside Alex Katz and Lois Dodd. His early work in the 1950s, influenced by jazz and Elie Nadelman, combined radical experimentation with social observation. He gained recognition for his ability to convey movement and character with minimal forms, as seen in works like 'Sonny Greer and Jimmy Archie' (1953) and 'Bob and Terry' (1954). In the 1960s, he developed interlocking metal sculptures, exemplified by 'Magic' (1970), which used two shaped aluminum sheets to suggest a voluptuous female figure. Later works included monumental stick figures in narrative compositions, such as 'Power Tennis' (1990). Critics including Hilton Kramer and Fairfield Porter praised his fusion of formal innovation and humor. Despite the dominance of abstraction, King's work is now seen as a precursor to artists like Franz West, Stephan Balkenhol, and Thomas Houseago.