Famed horse-racing painter Williams dies at 84

Peter Williams, the painter from New Zealand who found fame depicting racetrack life and was a familiar fixture in paddocks around the world, died on Monday at his home in Goshen, Ky., according to his family. Williams, who had been diagnosed with Lyme disease and dementia, was 84.

Along with Richard Stone Reeves, Anthony Alonso, and Fred Stone, Williams was one of a handful of painters whose works were highly sought after in the racing community over the past three decades. Like his other famous contemporaries, Williams could often be found working outdoors at the world’s most picturesque and historic racetracks.

Williams’s own style was to use pastels and impressionistic strokes to depict paddock scenes and racetrack life, from portraits of horses under tack in the walking ring to genteel portrayals of well-heeled racegoers relaxing outside the Reading Room at Saratoga Race Course. He also painted nautical scenes, landscapes, gardens, homes, and landmarks, often with horses in the foreground.

Reeves died in 2005, Alonso died in 2013, and Stone died this year.

Williams was bone on March 22, 1934, in the small village of Ruatoria, New Zealand, where his family managed large sheep farms. He studied art in his native country and made his first visit to the U.S. in 1971 after already building a reputation as an artist in New Zealand. He returned to the U.S. in 1981, and after meeting Reeves, he was commissioned to paint his first racetrack scene, leading to three decades of work in the field.

Williams, who made Kentucky his primary residence in the 1990s but returned frequently to New Zealand, is survived by his wife, Lee Ann Fahey, two sons, a daughter, and six grandchildren.