Ellsworth Kelly: Lithographs

Ellsworth Kelly was an American painter, sculptor and printmaker whose artwork has been  associated with minimalism, hard-edge painting and color field painting. His work was characterized by bold techniques such as striking line work, bright and vivid colors and simple shapes and forms. Kelly was one of the key American artists of the 20th century: his work heavily influenced the numerous artists who followed him and provided a bridge between the geometric abstraction movement of the 1930s to the minimalism of the mid-1960s. 

Kelly's particular interest in lithography was sparked during his service as an American soldier in France during World War II. During his time in the military he was stationed only a few miles away from Paris, which made it easy for him to travel into the city to immerse himself in the thriving art scene there. Kelly was so drawn to Paris, in fact, that he continued his education after the war in the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where it is thought he established his aesthetic. He would later go on to host his first exhibition in the city, and there he met gallery-owning lithographers who would go on to introduce their medium to him. This would prove to be immensely influential on Kelly, as he went on to create numerous series of lithographs such as Suite of Twenty-Seven Color Lithographs (1964–65) and Suite of Plant Lithographs (1964–66) later on in his career. 

Discover some of these dynamic and vibrant lithographs by Ellsworth Kelly for sale on Artsper!