Bill Alexander (painter)

Wilhelm Alexander was born in East Prussia. His family fled to Berlin during World War I. Apprenticed as a carriage maker, Alexander was drafted into the Wehrmacht during World War II. Captured by Allied troops, he painted portraits of Allied officers' wives and he soon made his way to the United States. After World War II, Alexander was a refugee and became a professional painter. He pioneered the modern "quick" version of the 15th century wet-on-wet technique, and moved to North America. Later, known as Bill Alexander, he began hosting television shows focused on painting education and his methods. ==Relations with Bob Ross==

TV host and prolific painter Bob Ross studied under Alexander, from whom he learned his wet-on-wet technique, a method of painting rapidly using progressively thinner layers of oil paint. Ross also dedicated the first episode of the second season to Alexander, explaining that "I feel as though he gave me a precious gift, and I'd like to share that gift with you [the viewer]". As Ross's popularity grew, his relationship with Alexander became increasingly strained. In a 1991 interview with The New York Times, Alexander said of Ross: "He betrayed me. I invented 'wet on wet'. I trained him, and he is copying me – what bothers me is not just that he betrayed me, but that he thinks he can do it better." Art historians have pointed out that the "wet-on-wet" (or alla prima) technique actually originated in Flanders during the 15th century, and was used by Frans Hals, Diego Velázquez, Caravaggio, Paul Cézanne, John Singer Sargent, and Claude Monet, among many others. However, Alexander invented the step of priming the canvas with a coat of thin liquid white paint (which Alexander branded as "Magic White") and designed the style of palette knife employed, which is larger, firmer, and has one straight edge. Both inventions are fundamental for his wet-on-wet technique. ==Bibliography==