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Alan Fenton
Untitled

ca. 1960

About the Item

Oil on canvas. Signed verso. Some scratched out, illegible writing in paint and graphite verso, which may have indicated the artist's original pricing, as well as a possible title. 50.25 x 36.25 in. 58 x 43.75 in. (framed) Custom framed in a solid hardwood tray frame with a matte off-white finish. Provenance Private Collection, Cleveland Private Collection, New York Alan Fenton was born on July 29, 1927 in Cleveland, Ohio. A middle child of three, he grew up during the Depression. In the rough and tumble "Kinsman" section of town, Alan, a classmate of former teamster and mob boss, Jackie Presser, grew up on the streets. As a child, Alan was a poor student and a dreamer, spending much of his day drawing. His teachers repeatedly rapped his offending hand with a ruler (years later he developed a tremor) not to punish him for drawing, but to "cure" his left-handedness. When he was 17 years old, he joined the merchant marines. Stationed in Florida, when he got out he supported himself by boxing. In the interest of preserving his good looks and sharp mind, he hung up his gloves and returned to Cleveland to design the interior of a clothing store one of his high school buddies had just opened. By the time he was 22 years old, Alan had a successful career as a commercial artist and designer. He had legally changed his birth surname of "Freedman" to Fenton, presumably to avert assumptions regarding his ethnic heritage. Like the "blank art" he likened some of his work to, he created a blank name. In 1955 he married Naomi Feigenbaum also of Cleveland and moved to NYC to attend Pratt Institute. Alan studied privately with Jack Tworkov and Adolph Gottlieb (who wrote Alan a strong recommendation letter) and they both remained lifelong friends and mentors. After the birth of his daughter, Danielle, Alan Fenton graduated with a degree in fine arts from Pratt University at age 33. Much to his family's surprise, he decided to become an abstract painter. Instead of getting a job on Madison Avenue, he went to Max's Kansas City, writing absurdist theater, poetry and hanging with influentials such as art dealer Dick Belamy, filmmaker/photographer Jerry Shatzberg, photographer Diane Arbus and artists Mark Rothko, Paul Jenkins, Morris Louis, David Budd, Carl Holty and Kyle Morris. In 1959, Morris invited Fenton to participate in a group show of the New York School in the March Gallery on 10th Street. Shortly after the March Gallery Invitational, Alan met Vincent Melzac, renowned owner of "The Vincent Melzac Collection of American Art." Melzac, who would later become CEO of the Corcoran, was on his way to establishing what was said to be one of the earliest and boldest collections of abstract expressionist paintings. By 1960, Alan Fenton was included in the Melzac Collection, along with Jack Bush, Willem de Kooning, Kenneth Noland, Morris Louis, Franz Kline and Jackson Pollack. For the next 29 years, Vincent was Alan's collector, champion, dealer and close personal friend. In the 1960s, Fenton participated in group shows in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Connecticut, including a well-received solo exhibition at Pace Gallery. His work throughout this decade was large in scale, shifting away from expressionistic brush strokes into color field lines and squares. In 1966, he persuaded his real estate developer father-in-law to purchase the historic Tiffany factory at 333 Park Avenue South, to convert into loft spaces for artists. Attracting an array of luminaries, Fenton created and managed one of Manhattan's first live/work buildings. This landmark building with its famed residents, visitors, and events, became Alan's "factory" and folded into his art. In 1968, Fenton's son, David was born and he began to teach at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. The 1970s saw a transition in Fenton's work, which would come to literally be known as the "the transition series." These were Asian-inspired "landscapes" of split two-color flat works with one color transition descending from above, with a corresponding color transition ascending from below. So elaborate was this process, that he made blueprints out of pencil, termed "studies" and watercolors on paper called "washes" to indicate where the horizon would appear. In 1977, the Phillips Museum, in coordination with the University of Iowa Museum of Art, organized "Washes and Drawings," a solo exhibition that opened at the Phillips Collection Gallery in Washington. The show traveled to the Iowa Museum of Art, the North Carolina Art Museum and the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. After Melzac died in 1989, Fenton sold his NYC studio and returned to Cleveland with his family, ultimately passing away on New Year's Day, 2000. Fenton's solo exhibitions included the Pace Gallery (New York), Phillips Collection (Washington), Isetan Galleries (Tokyo), the New York Cultural Center Museum, Barbara Fiedler Gallery (Washington), and at several state, municipal, and university art museums. Selected group shows included the Corcoran Gallery (Washington) Aldrich Museum (Ridgefield, CT), Pace Gallery (Boston and New York), Cleveland Museum, and galleries throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. His work has been reviewed in Art News, Arts Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, the New York Post, the Village Voice and Art International.‍ Source: Danielle Fenton (accessed via askART)
  • Creator:
    Alan Fenton (1927 - 2000, American)
  • Creation Year:
    ca. 1960
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 50.25 in (127.64 cm)Width: 36.25 in (92.08 cm)
  • Medium:
    Canvas,Oil
  • Movement & Style:
    Abstract Expressionist
  • Period:
    1960-1969
  • Condition:
    Overall good and stable condition. No evidence of restoration. Not examined under UV light. Please contact for full condition report and additional photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Austin, TX
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2287214215072
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