Al Held
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Al Held (October 12, 1928 – July 27, 2005) was an American Abstract expressionist painter.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1928, Held showed no interest in art until he left the Navy in 1947. Inspired by friend Nicholas Krushenick, Held enrolled in the Art Students League of New York, then, in 1949, using the support of the G.I. Bill, he went to Paris for three years, to learn at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. He returned to New York in 1953, and struggled with his work for several years.
After his first solo Abstract expressionist exhibition in 1959, Held's large-scale paintings of colourful, simple yet abstract geometric forms gained increasing recognition in America and Europe. In 1962, he was appointed to the Yale University Faculty Of Art (until 1980), and in 1966, was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship. Feeling that he'd reached the end of the potential of his style, in 1967 he shifted into black and white images that dealt with challenging perspectives and "spatial conundrums." Some dismissed this as disorienting, while others declared it his finest work to date. By the late 70's, he re-introduced colour to his work.
In his later years, he was making 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.
