Tom Lieber

First Light

2016

Artist Tom Lieber’s Abstract Expressionist paintings have a distinct visual language. They are energetic and powerfully emotive yet contemplative through a use of graceful, bold lines, dense colors and neutral backgrounds.

Born in 1949 in St. Louis, Missouri, Lieber attended the University of Illinois where he graduated with a BFA in 1971 before obtaining his MFA in 1974. The following year, Lieber received an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1982, he was selected for the “Emerging American Artists’ Exhibition” at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. 

In 1983, Lieber began a collaboration with artist Garner Tullis to create large-scale monotypes. Through Tullis, he met influential artists such as Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, John Walker, Sean Scully, William T. Wiley and Friedel Dzubas.

Since the mid-1980s, Lieber’s abstract paintings, inspired by nature and meditation, have been characterized by his calligraphic mark-making, underlying color fields and masterful tonal variations, often anchored by a single brushstroke. His monumental, oil paint-laden canvases recall the works of Joan Mitchell, while his subtle use of color evokes the art of Mark Rothko.

In the 2000s, Lieber has been inspired by living in Kauai, Hawaii. This is evident in his landscape works and abstract prints such as “Hot Water,” “Lava” and “Black Drop X.”

Lieber’s paintings have been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally at solo and group shows. His works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Tate in London.

On 1stDibs, find a range of Tom Lieber’s paintings and prints.