| Al Held | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 12, 1928 Brooklyn, New York |
| Died | July 27, 2005 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | American |
| Field | Painting |
| Training | Art Students League of New
York, Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris |
| Movement | Abstract expressionism, Post-Painterly Abstraction, Geometric abstraction, Hard-edge painting |
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.
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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.
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 would teach until 1980). In 1965, the
critic Irving
Sandler curated the critically acclaimed Concrete Expressionism
show at New York University featuring the
work of painters Al Held and Knox Martin and the sculptors Ronald
Bladen, George Sugarman and David Weinrib.[1]
In 1966, Held 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 had
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.
   | Interview with Held, 1975 - Al Held Oral History Interview Conducted by Paul Cummings for the Archives of American Art, 1975 - Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution |
| | Biography by the Sheldon Gallery - Sheldon Museum of Art: Collection |
| | Obituary in The Guardian, 2005 - Obituary: Al Held | World news | The Guardian |
| | From Avant-Garde to Pluralism: An On-The-Spot History, - From avant-garde to pluralism : an on-the-spot history [WorldCat.org] |
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