Everything about Al Held totally explained
Al Held (
October 12,
1928 –
July 27,
2005) was an
American Abstract expressionist painter. He was particularly well known for his large scale
Hard-edge paintings.
Background and education
Born in
Brooklyn,
New York in 1928, Held showed no interest in art until leaving the
Navy in
1947. Inspired by his friend
Nicholas Krushenick, Held enrolled in the
Art Students League of New York. In
1949, using the support of the
G.I. Bill, he went to
Paris for three years, to study at the
Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He returned to New York in 1953, to struggle with his work for several years.
Career
After his first solo
Abstract expressionist exhibition in
1959, Held's large-scale paintings of colourful, simple
abstract geometric forms gained increasing recognition in
America and
Europe. In
1962, he was appointed to the
Yale University Faculty Of Art (where he'd teach until
1980); in
1966, he was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship and received the
Logan Medal of the arts. 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 late 70's, he'd re-introduced colour to his work.
In his later years, Held earned
commissions of up to one million dollars. In 2005, he completed a large, colorful
mural in the
New York City Subway system, at East
53rd Street and
Lexington.
At age 76, Held was found dead in his
villa swimming pool near
Camerata,
Italy, on
July 27,
2005. It is believed he died of
natural causes.
Further Information
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