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548:. The perspective of the shapes created a sense of deep space by expanding into the canvas what seems like forever. These works test imagination with intersecting planes and large to small forms jutting in the picture. Held's visual concept of infinity creates a need for the viewer to look inward on themself. Works such as Pachinko make viewers ask questions to understand how huge the structures actually are in relation to one another in the painting and this leads to more questions. The understanding of the forms is dynamic as certain objects could be large and far away or small and near the foreground. The perception of space challenges the audience to see the problem of observing the area around them.
509:. Despite the same consistency of content throughout the works each maintain a unique design of their own. Grid like elements started becoming more apparent suggesting structure similar to that of the framework in buildings. The paintings are in a way disorienting with their uncentered patterns and no place to gain perspective. As his art's complexity grew the idea of his art to be deemed
462:, etc. There is a delicate alteration of the letters as Held plays with viewers perception's by changing the figure to the frame. The letters themselves take over the canvas and colors within the works make them seem to lean forward and backward at the same time. It leaves the viewer to think about the ideas of space and form and how dimension plays a key role.
379:. The colors included earth tones that are muted and spread around chaotically. Typical for many of these paintings was no foreground or background and sections were splashed with drips. As time went forward in the fifties, Held began to lengthen his gestures and combined strokes into triangles, circles, and rectangles. This was alluding to the
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inspired Held as he returned to New York. Describing Held's images as "room" or "walls" makes sense, however, the art is non-objective and those may not be the best words to use. On one hand the work has architectural qualities but at the same time the planes of color are nonrepresentational and in
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has been known to characterize it as concrete expressionism. The development of this style also led Held to change his medium from oil to a water-based acrylic. These paintings had vivid colors geometric configurations around positioned throughout the canvas resembling a mural. All of the paintings
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in 1966. Feeling that he'd reached the end of his style's potential, he shifted in 1967 to black and white images that dealt with challenging perspectives and "spatial conundrums". Some critics dismissed this work as simply disorienting; others declared it Held's finest achievement to date. By the
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In 1967 Held felt that he was being limited by the flatness of previous hard edge abstractions. He wanted a way to create more picture space in some way, however painting shapes onto shapes would constantly hide beneath one another. Therefore, Held believed that adding depth and making the shapes
168:. As an artist, multiple stylistic changes occurred throughout his career, however, none of these occurred at the same time as any popular emerging style or acted against a particular art form. In the 1950s his style reflected the abstract expressionist tone and then transitioned to a
576:. The work is less fragmented and a deeper sense of order compared to some of his other works. Bright colored, grid-like structure exists harmonically in an infinite blue space. Yet, existing within it also is a sense of paradox and complexity.
215:, who created gigantic pieces that contained intense political material. However, the G.I. accreditation that he planned on using to help with his travels was not accepted at the school he planned on attending. In 1951, using the support of the
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The most distinguishing part of Held's pigment paintings were the thick brush strokes of paint in random directions that are reminiscent of
Abstract Expressionism. These strokes were short, gestural and are commonly referred to as
600:. They moved together to New York in 1956, got married in 1957 to split up in 1959. Then in 1969, he married the sculptor, Sylvia Stone.. He later married art historian and museum director, Kathleen Monaghan.
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Much of Held's modern artwork includes large symmetric non-objective structures with vivid colors. Using an acrylic medium, he created interlocking scaffolds that overlap with a deep consideration of
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Held married
Giselle Wexler in 1953, with whom he had a daughter, Mara. After the break-up with his wife, he went to San Francisco where he met the soon-to-be postmodern dancer and choreographer
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felt a growing problem emerge. The style had brought a large number of mediocre artists and become overdone for them. By 1960 he had succeeded in finding an alternative method given the label
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in Paris was where his first exhibition was set up in 1952. However, the art scene in New York was starting to gain new popularity and Held moved back there. During one of his solo
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All of these works are composed in acrylic black and white. The quasi-geometric structures zigzag in all directions making complex shapes usually
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During the late 1950s, gestural painting was something that Held had begun to lose interest in. He and a few other artists such as
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in the 1960s. During the 1980s, there was a shift into painting that emphasized bright geometric space that's deepness reflected
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With these works Held takes concrete abstraction to its extreme. Around 1961-1966 Held created large abstract letters of the
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became less of a dominant label. Another remarkable characteristic of these works is the scale. For example, in
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While Held was away from his studio in New York during the 1980s, he created a number of watercolor paintings in
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forms gained increasing recognition in
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are good examples of this style. A representative black-and-white mural of volumetric forms in space,
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Irving
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Al Held interviews, 1975 Nov. 19-1976 Jan. 8, Archives of
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Tucker, Marcia. (1974). Al Held. Whitney Museum of
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Al Held in the
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of up to one million dollars. In 2005, he completed a large, colourful
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appear three-dimensional on the canvas was his best option. The works
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were receiving fresh inspiration from abstract expressionists such as
208:. He originally thought about studying in Mexico under the prominent
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The
Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Art Collection
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Irving, Sandler. (1984). Al Held. Hudson Hills Press. Print. Pg 30
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Irving, Sandler. (1984). Al Held. Hudson Hills Press. Print. Pg 29
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Irving, Sandler. (1984). Al Held. Hudson Hills Press. Print. Pg 28
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Plagens, Peter (April 17, 1989). "Is Bigger
Necessarily Better?".
636:"Little-Seen Works From an Artist Who Influenced Stella and Kelly"
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meaning the artwork does not represent a person, place or thing.
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940:. New York: André Emmerich Gallery. Print. pg 5 OCLC# 535049431
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as an
Associate member, and became a full Academician in 1994.
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in 1959, Held's large-scale paintings of colourful, simple
1002:. New York: André Emmerich Gallery. Print. ASIN B000V5OIP2
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Berggruen, Tobias. (2021). "Abstraction and Artifice," in
157:(October 12, 1928 – July 27, 2005) was an American
277:(where he would teach until 1980). In 1965, the critic
560:. The ancient buildings of Rome and the idea of the
164:. He was particularly well known for his large scale
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Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
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721:"Collection Online | Al Held - Guggenheim Museum"
672:"Al Held Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story"
176:. From 1963 to 1980 he was a professor of art at
517:during 1976 he painted his two largest murals,
357:, on July 27, 2005. It is believed he died of
1169:Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière
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951:"FPAA: Discover Public Art in Philadelphia!"
339:Three of Held's murals were in the original
289:featuring the work of painters Al Held and
417:. In other ways it has been described as
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454:. These paintings were given the titles
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976:"Solar Wind I • Pérez Art Museum Miami"
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1149:Art Students League of New York alumni
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584:Held's estate has been represented by
346:At age 76, Held was found dead in his
334:Lexington Avenue / 51st – 53rd Streets
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895:, New York: Alexander Berggruen, 9.
848:"Al Held - Exhibitions - Cheim Read"
434:from 1964, in the collection of the
875:. Hudson Hills Press. Print. pg 65
1179:20th-century American male artists
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1174:20th-century American printmakers
1054:Al Held Estate Goes to White Cube
765:from the original on June 9, 2007
761:. National Gallery of Australia.
383:that started at the end of 1959.
281:curated the critically acclaimed
1080:Biography by the Sheldon Gallery
320:In his later years, Held earned
200:in 1947. Inspired by his friend
697:"Al Held (American, 1928–2005)"
615:Art Students League of New York
225:Académie de la Grande Chaumière
223:for two years, to study at the
206:Art Students League of New York
95:Académie de la Grande Chaumière
90:Art Students League of New York
1144:Abstract expressionist artists
1134:20th-century American painters
1129:American contemporary painters
568:In 1983, his 15’ by 55’ mural
438:is an example of the artist's
304:In 1964, Held was awarded the
16:American painter (1928 - 2005)
1:
1036:. Hudson Hills Press. Print.
536:, produced between 1973-74.
913:"Explore The Art Collection"
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1189:Yale School of Art faculty
1124:American abstract painters
419:post-painterly abstraction
315:National Academy of Design
1032:Irving, Sandler. (1984).
871:Irving, Sandler. (1984).
634:Lakin, Max (2 May 2016).
565:a way cannot be grasped.
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184:Background and education
998:Forge, Andrew. (1988).
936:Forge, Andrew. (1978).
917:Empirestateplaza.ny.gov
499:The Phillips Collection
483:, was commissioned for
306:Logan Medal of the Arts
204:, Held enrolled in the
147:Logan Medal of the Arts
1159:Painters from Brooklyn
1154:Artists from the Bronx
1139:American male painters
980:Pérez Art Museum Miami
938:Al Held: New Paintings
610:Abstract expressionism
530:Pérez Art Museum Miami
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436:Honolulu Museum of Art
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400:Honolulu Museum of Art
381:geometric abstractions
283:Concrete Expressionism
261:Abstract expressionist
159:Abstract expressionist
119:Abstract expressionism
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466:Geometric abstraction
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310:Guggenheim Fellowship
105:Geometric abstraction
1013:"Held Overview 1994"
1000:Al Held: Watercolors
523:Ascension/Descension
330:New York City Subway
39:in Amsterdam in 1966
387:Hard edge paintings
301:and David Weinrib.
287:New York University
202:Nicholas Krushenick
166:Hard-edge paintings
1094:Al Held Foundation
1019:. 24 January 2017.
641:The New York Times
552:Contemporary works
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446:Alphabet paintings
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398:by Al Held, 1964,
293:and the sculptors
275:Yale School of Art
109:Hard-edge painting
59:Brooklyn, New York
572:was completed in
370:Pigment paintings
245:Willem de Kooning
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558:architecture
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534:Solar Wind I
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515:Philadelphia
511:minimalistic
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129:Sylvia Stone
71:(2005-07-27)
1119:2005 deaths
1114:1928 births
562:renaissance
540:Watercolors
460:The Big ‘X’
456:The Big ‘N'
332:system, at
322:commissions
291:Knox Martin
264:exhibitions
241:Mark Rothko
229:Avant-garde
1108:Categories
985:2023-08-29
961:2015-03-26
858:2015-03-17
706:2022-06-08
701:Artnet.com
621:References
586:White Cube
580:Art market
497:(1968) at
477:Flemish IV
343:building.
51:1928-10-12
759:"Al Held"
440:hard-edge
415:hard edge
336:station.
271:geometric
217:G.I. Bill
125:Spouse(s)
86:Education
786:Newsweek
763:Archived
604:See also
432:Untitled
396:Untitled
285:show at
268:abstract
210:muralist
194:New York
190:Brooklyn
188:Born in
174:infinity
115:Movement
1058:ARTnews
1034:Al Held
873:Al Held
769:May 29,
507:cubical
501:in 2023
495:B/W XII
442:style.
328:in the
162:painter
155:Al Held
80:, Italy
23:Al Held
1089:, 2005
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922:8 June
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893:Shapes
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251:Career
243:, and
143:Awards
647:3 May
426:were
353:near
348:villa
341:WTC 7
326:mural
221:Paris
101:Style
76:near
1038:ISBN
924:2022
897:ISBN
877:ISBN
832:ISBN
816:ISBN
800:ISBN
771:2007
743:ISBN
649:2016
546:Rome
528:The
521:and
475:and
409:and
365:Work
255:The
198:Navy
78:Todi
66:Died
45:Born
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788:.
773:.
709:.
651:.
92:,
53:)
49:(
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