At CCAC, Henry studied under both Harry Krell and Richard Diebenkorn, as well as the Japanese abstractionist and abstract calligrapher Sabro Hasegawa. After receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in painting from CCAC, Henry took a few classes at California School of Fine Arts (now San Francisco Art Institute). While there, he attended classes taught by Elmer Bischoff, and some of his fellow students were Robert Downs, Manuel Neri, and Bruce McGaw. It was at this time that Richard Diebenkorn approached Henry to be in the “Contemporary Bay Area Figurative Painting” show curated by Paul Mills, and shown first at the Oakland Art Museum in 1957. This show later traveled to the Los Angeles County Art Museum.

During a 2006 interview at his home, Henry reflected upon the time he spent in art school:

Harry Krell was my most inspirational professor, he taught me the relationship between warm and cool colors that is the structure of my paintings. Harry was extremely supportive in class; socially he was a confidant and friend. Diebenkorn told me “to paint”; Bischoff and Parks paintings influenced me the most in school.

In his 1959 book I Like What I Know, Vincent Price included a list of American artists to whom he referred as “better than good, and a few who are great”: Pollack, Rothko, Motherwell, Kline, Parks, Villierme, de Koening, and Diebenkorn.

Henry has exhibited his work at the Oakland Art Museum, the Los Angeles County Art Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the de Young Museum, the Downey Museum of Art, the Laguna Art Museum, the Crocker Art Museum, and the Bolinas Museum.

Note from the director:
It is with great pleasure that we share with you some of the early works by Henry Villierme. We hope in time this venue will be more than just a site to view these works, but rather an invitation to learn more about the artist and his lifelong passion for painting.  In the near future, we will be adding further images of Henry’s works, archival information and sessions in the studio.

For further information please contact: Director, Paul Villierme