William North, American painter, sitting outdoors in Florida at an easel, painting while wearing a large sunhat and a plaid shirt, surrounded by trees and a river in the background.

William North

(1927–2011)

William North was a distinguished painter of the tropical Florida scene. An early interest in art and painting resulted in his assignment as an artist correspondent in the U.S. Army (1945–47) and the fulfillment of a lifelong desire to carry on the tradition of the great age of impressionism by painting landscapes outdoors and still lifes in his studio.

William North, an American painter, with light hair smiling, holding a framed painting of boats in the water, in an outdoor setting with a large boat and rigging in the background.

His oil paintings of local landscapes and still lifes, completed over 60 years in and around Toms River, New Jersey, Mystic, Connecticut, and ultimately Fort Myers and Naples, Florida, have been represented in galleries throughout the U.S., and in collections in Moscow and Tokyo.

William North, an American painter, with glasses sitting in a white metal chair in a lush, green outdoor Florida garden, with trees and plants surrounding him, holding a white cup, and a wooden desk with papers and a reading lamp nearby.

Since 1990, after settling in Fort Myers with his wife Colleen, he was noted for his realistic portrayals of Florida oranges and citrus groves. Together they spent the next twenty-one years exploring and painting the natural beauty of Sanibel Island, Naples and Fort Myers.

An elderly man with white hair and glasses painting outdoors under a large tree during sunset. He is wearing a plaid jacket and a light blue shirt, holding a paintbrush and a crumpled tissue, standing in front of an easel with a canvas. The scene is illuminated by warm sunlight filtering through the tree leaves, with a wooden fence and a grassy field in the background.

Photo Courtesy of Naples Daily News / The Banner

In 1994 they discovered a painter’s paradise at Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park in Naples. After long hours spent painting on location en plein air, he went looking for something to paint in his studio. The Florida juice oranges he found at produce stands became subjects for his still lifes.

An elderly man with white hair and glasses painting on a canvas, using a paintbrush. He is seated at a table with a paint palette and is working on a framed picture. In the background, there is a table with lemons and a flower arrangement.

In 2004, he was the first Lee County artist to be invited to exhibit in the Governor’s Gallery in the State Capital Complex in Tallahassee. In February 2007 the Department of Environmental Protection and Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park in Naples named him their first “Artist in Residence”. Another goal was realized in 2011 when he published “Florida Artist: Wm. North – His Life & Art” and a second book about painting Florida citrus, “Florida Citrus in Fine Art: Paintings of the Golden Harvest”.