Clayton Williams was a firm believer in himself and in the American Dream. “He did everything he wanted to do,” says his son, actor and director Stephen Williams. “He never thought that he could not do anything.” The realm of possibilities included becoming, at age 60, a successful art dealer. Williams died peacefully at home on June 25 at the age of 96.

Modern West Fine Art gallerist Diane Stewart remembers Williams as a true renaissance man. “He knew business and art equally … but his passion was art…. Clayton was unwaveringly honest and transparent with his art business … and with his life [which he] spent being curious and interested in so many varied topics, but especially in people. … He was remarkable, kind, thoughtful, and always debonair.”

Born to Florence Campbell and Gilbert Winder Williams (yes, the dairy Winder: as cousins, Clayton’s six kids would eventually enjoy all the ice cream they could eat), Williams was raised on the Avenues in Salt Lake City. In 1941, he signed up to serve his country after Pearl Harbor was attacked, spending two years in the Coast Guard, serving on a ship in the Atlantic working the Morse code machines. Following a 2 ½ year mission to Norway for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after the war, he married Marilyn Covey in 1950. They had six children and later divorced, in 1979. He married Elaine Stevens in 1980.

Williams graduated from the University of Utah in Mechanical Engineering in 1953. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. While still attending school, he joined his father and brother in what eventually became Williams Equipment and Controls, an industrial heating and cooling company. After decades of building the business into a very successful enterprise, he sold it in 1986 to open an art gallery.


“Who does that?” his son asks rhetorically. “As he put it, he went from ‘left brain to right brain.’ Finally, he was able to fully use his innate artistic talents and love of beauty, inherited from his artistic mother. He began painting seriously — mostly with oils. He became a well-known, popular local artist. But his real mission (as he saw it) was to champion the early Utah artists — such as J.T. Harwood and John Hafen — who began the ‘Utah landscape tradition’ in the 1890s.” He studied their lives, becoming an expert on their work and careers.

He launched Williams Fine Art in a second-floor space at 175 W. 200 South, a decision he made after visiting 100 galleries in New York City and noting the most exclusive were one floor up. The gallery was best known, however, for its location in the heart of the city at Eagle Gate Plaza, a location it occupied from 1993 to 2003. Williams later shared a space with Tom Alder at 200 E. South Temple.

Artist and gallerist Karen Horne, says she enjoyed attending Clayton Williams’ “highly organized and well-attended events — for example his show and presentation on the artist Florence Ware.”  Horne adds that she was able to collect “a couple of small pieces (with modest prices) from his gallery — but mostly always enjoyed seeing what showstoppers — an Alvin Gittins, a Jeff Hein, a LeConte Stewart — he might have on view.” She says she appreciated Williams’ gallery’s mix of premiere early Utah art, and present-day artists. “He was dynamic and sociable, and brought new caché, and new collectors, to historical works.”

Over the course of three decades, Williams became a significant force within the Utah art community. “I had the good fortune to work on a variety of art projects with Clayton Williams for the past 23 years,” says Donna Poulton, author, curator, art historian and fine art consultant. These might include book projects, a lecture series and the all-too-brief Museum of Utah Art and History. Early on, Williams created a lecture series, titled “An Evening at Williams Fine Art.” “It was held once or twice a year where either an artist or an expert would speak about the gallery’s current exhibition,” Poulton says. “Clayton told me later he considered these events to be his professional legacy. … The importance of his philanthropy, kindness, and mentorship is represented in the texture and culture of Utah and Western Art. He was among those rare individuals who identify their passion and have the courage to live, invest, work and breathe it. For him that passion was art. An accomplished artist himself, he had a gifted eye for quality and for beauty. He created a renaissance for interest in Utah artists at his gallery.”

“He would move mountains to make things happen,” his son Stephen says. “He loved helping and inspiring people to advance all good causes, especially those that bring joy and beauty into the world. He always wanted to be where the action was. Never a passive participant of life, he was a catalyst for making things better.” Williams served as president of the Rotary Club of Salt Lake City, for two years [1976-78]. “In this role, he established a foundation that has given financial assistance to thousands of at-risk children in subsequent decades. He also led and assisted many charitable organizations throughout the years,” his son explains. At the same time, he got the Rotarians interested in art: “All these people that had never been interested in art before. He was the Pied Piper of art in Salt Lake City.“

Williams is survived by his children, Cathy Tait (Steve), Louise Nelson (Gary), Clayton Williams (Denise), Stephen Williams, Dan Williams (Cynthia), and Florence Jackson (Steven), 25 grandchildren and 71 great-grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his wife, Elaine Williams, grandson Claytie Williams and his great-grandson Ben Tait.
 
Clayton Williams was buried in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, next to his parents.

Ann Poore

A graduate of the University of Utah, Ann Poore is a freelance writer and editor who spent most of her career at The Salt Lake Tribune. She was the 2018 recipient of the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Artist Award in the Literary Arts.