Born in Ann Arbor, William Fett was an abstract and Surrealist painter known for his landscapes, many of which were inspired by scenes of Mexico. He graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1941. After graduating, he made several extended trips to Mexico, where he became acquainted with expatriate Surrealist artists who had relocated there during the political upheavals in Europe surrounding World War II.

Some of Fett’s Mexican watercolors were featured in a solo exhibition at the Durlacher Brothers Gallery in New York on October 5, 1943. The positive response to the exhibition led to acquisitions by the Museum of Modern Art.

In 1946, Fett accepted a teaching appointment at the Washington University School of Art in St. Louis, where he served as Professor of Drawing and Painting until 1981, retiring as Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts. From 1982 through 1983, he served as Acting Professor of Painting at the San Antonio Art Institute in Texas. He later returned to Mexico City, where he died on September 10, 2006.

Sources:
Walter Barker, William Fett, Retrospective Exhibition, 1943-1960. Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri William Fett, Original letters, documents, photographs, 1946-1999.