William Etienne "Bill" Pajaud (August 3, 1925 – June 16, 2015) was an African-American artist, primarily working in watercolor, known for his paintings exploring themes of jazz.
[5][6] Pajaud's watercolors featured imagery inspired by his childhood in New Orleans and his adult life in Chicago and Los Angeles: full-figured African American women, jazz funerals, street scenes.
[8] Pajaud was the adviser for the acquisition of artworks for the black-owned Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, for whom he had worked since 1957 in design and public relations.
[3][9][6][2] In 1965, with a modest budget, he began to acquire the artworks of fellow African-American artists including Jacob Lawrence, Charles White, Betye Saar, Elizabeth Catlett, Richmond Barthé, Hale Woodruff, Charles Alston, Varnette P. Honeywood, David Hammons, Romare Bearden, John Biggers, Samella Lewis, Henry Ossawa Tanner and Willie Middlebrook.
[11] A large proportion of the collection was auctioned in 2007 when the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company went out of business.