Utley, Windsor
Title
Utley, Windsor
Birth Date
1920
Death Date
April 8, 1989
Biographical Text
Windsor Utley was an accomplished American artist, musician, teacher and gallery owner. Born in Laguna, California in 1920, Utley attended Pomona College and the University of Southern California. A classically trained flautist, he moved to the Pacific Northwest in the early 1940s to perform with the Tacoma Symphony in Washington.
Utley did not begin painting until he was 19 years old. He was influenced by Mark Tobey and later Kandinsky in New York. He entered and was accepted into the 1944 Annual Exhibition of Northwest Artists at the Seattle Art Museum and later that year won first prize in the Tacoma Watercolor Exhibit. Utley later became the head of the art department at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.
Windsor Utley has been celebrated as a member of the Northwest School, but lived at times in California, Washington, New York, and Canada. He also spent two years in Italy, living and working in Siena and Florence. He opened Utley's Art Galleries in Seattle in 1966, then in Victoria, British Columbia in the 1970s. He moved the galleries to Laguna Beach, California in 1983 and re-opened them in Seattle in 1987.
Windsor Utley died in Seattle on 8 April 1989 aged 69. His work is in many private and public collections including the Seattle Art Museum, British Columbia Provincial Collection, Victoria, Duveen-Graham Gallery, New York, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond and the University of Washington.
Utley did not begin painting until he was 19 years old. He was influenced by Mark Tobey and later Kandinsky in New York. He entered and was accepted into the 1944 Annual Exhibition of Northwest Artists at the Seattle Art Museum and later that year won first prize in the Tacoma Watercolor Exhibit. Utley later became the head of the art department at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.
Windsor Utley has been celebrated as a member of the Northwest School, but lived at times in California, Washington, New York, and Canada. He also spent two years in Italy, living and working in Siena and Florence. He opened Utley's Art Galleries in Seattle in 1966, then in Victoria, British Columbia in the 1970s. He moved the galleries to Laguna Beach, California in 1983 and re-opened them in Seattle in 1987.
Windsor Utley died in Seattle on 8 April 1989 aged 69. His work is in many private and public collections including the Seattle Art Museum, British Columbia Provincial Collection, Victoria, Duveen-Graham Gallery, New York, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond and the University of Washington.
Citation
“Utley, Windsor,” Life Stories, accessed May 2, 2026, https://lifestories.uvic.ca/items/show/183.