The following information was submitted in October of 2006 by Jeanne Jennings, who was married to the artist for the last 28 years of his life:

William Barnett ( called Will) was one of three siblings.  All but Wm. were born in Kiev, Russia.  He was born in Philadelphia in 1918 and died in San Francisco, California in November 1992.  He was a professor of painting and drawing at the University of the Arts, formerly Philadelphia College of Art, and had his studio in his house on 12th St., Philadelphia, where he also had students on weekends, until l980.  He and wife, Jan, also a teacher, retired and settled in Kettenpom, California a rural community in Northern California 45 miles from the nearest town.  They purchased 64 acres,  converted an historic old shack into temporary housing, and then built a passive solar home elsewhere on the property.  At first Wm. used a 2- horse  barn to paint in, but after the new house was done, he used the old house, and  continued painting and exhibiting, both locally and in the East until his death of leukemia.

 

He was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in Creative painting, the DaVinci Medal for drawing, the Indiana State Drawing Award, the Tri-State Oil Painting Award, Pennsylvania Academy Board of Directors Painting Award, Dawson Award for Still life, and Buick National Competition Oil Painting award.  He was commissioned by the Israeli Government to execute several gouches of important historical sites including the Wailing Wall, and was included in Who's Who in American Art. 

 

A large oil painting, "Widow in White" was purchased by the Phila. Museum of Art for its permanent collection and was chosen from their collection for a national show entitled "Color in Painting" at the Birmingham Museum of Art featuring such masters as Van Gogh, Monet, Gauguin, Rubens and the top contemporary artists of New York.  He is also in the permanent collections of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, The Wilmington Museum of Art, The Woodmere Museum, University of Pennsylvania, The Atlantic Refinery, North American Insurance Corporation, numerous private and corporate collections.  He used all mediums, but did only one woodblock print which was purchased by Philadelphia Museum of Art.