William T. Williams has worked in abstract modes since the beginning of his career, with emphases in his work upon the emotional effects of color and the evocation of meditative states of mind. His earliest influences came from Modernist movements that reflected these concerns: Russian constructivism, suprematism, and the Dutch de Stijl, all early twentieth-century movements that consciously integrated basic form and spirituality. In the late 1960s, Williams’ acrylic paintings were hard-edged abstractions — flat surfaces of clashing colors and dynamic geometries. His canvases evoked comparisons to the work of post-expressionists Frank Stella and Al Held, with their more strictly formal concerns, but for Williams, abstraction was itself revolutionary and capable of reflecting the world beyond the canvas.

Since the early 1970s, Williams has increasingly integrated more personal touches in his work. The machined look has been supplanted by work that bears a more painterly imprint. His palette changed with his new investigations, as manifested in his painting, “Equinox." This shift also reflects the growing intent to create art that connects across all cultural, national, and racial boundaries.

Over the past thirty years, the work of William T. Williams has been exhibited in more than
one hundred museums and art centers worldwide. His works can be found in many of the country's public collections, such as, The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York; Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan; The North Carolina State Museum, North Carolina; Wadsworth Atheneum, Connecticut; The Governor Nelson A Rockefeller/Empire State Plaza Collection, Albany, New York and The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Mr. Williams works can be found in numerous college and university collections including, Fisk University, Harvard University, Morgan State University and Yale University.

His talent has been recognized with a myriad of awards including two National Endowment for the Arts Awards and a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1992, The Studio Museum in Harlem paid tribute to Mr. Williams with their Artists Award for Lifetime Achievement. In 1998, he was named an Honorary Member in the Golden Key National Honor Society.