William Boissevain was born in New York, USA in 1927. He was the son of a Dutch diplomat and spent the majority of his youth living in foreign and exotic cities including America, Asia and Peru. The most dramatic of his adventures was a passage to Shanghai shortly after occupation by the Japanese: the Boissevains were eventually declared diplomatic prisoners and evacuated to England. He studied at l'Academie des Beaux Arts, Paris and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London and has lived in Western Australia since 1947. From this time Boissevain began to establish his reputation as one of Western Australians most talented artists.

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William , or Wim as he is affectionately known, is an extremely gifted artist who has devoted the majority of his life to capturing still life and nuance of the female form.

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William Boissevain has developed unique methods and techniques to capture the essence and position of the models and sitters. Primarily, his figurative works are layers of rich pastels and charcoal atop colourful oil glazes.

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Influenced by some of the greatest painters in European modern history such as Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and Matisse, Boissevain recollects the time he spent wandering the vast corridors of the Louvre, studying works by such masterful artists. His drawings reflect the precision and skill of the great French masters while also embedded with spontaneity of colour, line and form.

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William Boissevain enjoys a world-wide reputation as one of Australia’s most distinguished artists. His paintings hang in galleries and major collections throughout the world.

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In the early years, portraiture became an important money earner and even while teaching, he began to gain commendation for his skill.  In 1964 he exhibited at the Skinner Gallery and his career escalated. The decorative style of his approach, his eye for line and form, and a strong sense of colour soon made his work universally popular. In 1978 he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to the advancement of art.

Boissevain depicts the beauty of nature in all forms - flowers, fruit, people, animals and Australian landscapes, employing a strong realist style and distinctive technique which layers delicate oil washes over expressive brush drawing. His oil washed nudes are skilful and sensitive studies of the female figure in repose. 

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Working from his studio in the Glen Forrest near Perth, WA, Wim Boissevain has created paintings that hang in galleries and major collections throughout the world.