Al Held

Painter Al Held was born in New York City. During the 1950s painted in the abstract expressionist manner. From 1960 he adopted a more geometric style, painting complex cube-like structures with heavy impasto paint. In the 1980s Al Held turned to acrylic paints, rendering precise and brightly coloured geometric forms in a deep perspectival space.

Al Held was particularly well known for his large scale Hard-edge paintings. 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 geometric style in the 60s. During the 1980s there was a shift into acrylic painting that emphasized bright geometric space that’s deepness reflected infinity. From 1962 to 1980 Al Held was a professor of art at Yale University.