Al Held Art
American, 1928-2005
Alvin Jacob Held, (1928-2005) Al Held earned his slot in the annals of American contemporary art with his bold, geometric canvases that took abstraction to another level. His free-floating, interlocked cubes, and planes invited the viewer into a vertigo-inducing landscape that seemed to stretch on into infinity. "Immense architectural structures curve and slice through these complex paintings, often enmeshing themselves in cellular structures," noted the Times of London. "Viewers felt that they were exploring some mysterious universe, and Held never lost his passionate belief in abstract painting's ability to create a sublime new world."
Held grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and as a teenager, missed so many days of high school that it was suggested he consider leaving altogether. He eventually earned a night-school diploma, and spent two years in the U.S. Navy. Back in New York City, he enrolled in classes at the Art Students League, and went on to study at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in the early 1950s. The first solo exhibition of his work was staged there, in 1952 at the Galerie Huit. Held's abstract work took on a more orderly, formal tone, aided by a switch from oil to acrylic paints in 1959, and he had his first solo show in New York City that same year at the Poindexter Gallery. "Finessing the gap between Minimalism and Color Field painting," wrote New York Times journalist Ken Johnson of the next decade of Held's career, "he produced smooth, simplified works based on enlarged letters of the alphabet. And in the late '60s and '70s he made complex black-and-white pictures of sharply outlined cubes, pyramids, and other geometric shapes floating in illusory spaces of indeterminate depth."
Some of Held's best-known works are those floating black and white cubes, a series he began in 1967. One of the largest, which stretches more than 90 feet in length, was installed at the Empire State Plaza in Albany, New York. In the late 1970s, in an abrupt shift, he began using color again, and the geometric shapes became so precise that they were sometimes mistaken for computer-generated art. Held considered his images not unlike those of religious art, once telling an interviewer that "historically, the priests and wise men believed that it was the artist's job to make images of heaven and hell believable, even though nobody had experienced these places," he said, according to his Chicago Tribune obituary.
Held spent 20 years teaching at Yale University's. Represented by the Robert Miller Gallery in New York City, which staged what would be his last exhibition of new work in 2003, Held's works were avidly sought by contemporary-art enthusiasts around the world, and were part of the permanent collections of many institutions, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
— Carol Brennan(Biography provided by Judy Ferrara Gallery)
to
8
2
8
4
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
RUSSELL'S WAY
By Al Held
Located in Three Oaks, MI
In excellent condition from an edition of 50, this piece is beautifully framed in museum-quality materials. Al Held is best remembered for his large-scale paintings of bright, hard-e...
Category
1880s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Archival Paper, Etching, Aquatint
S.F.
By Al Held
Located in Henderson, NV
Al Held is know for his volumetric geometric compositions.
Category
1980s Al Held Art
Materials
Etching
Scholes I, Large Framed Geometric Abstract by Al Held
By Al Held
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Al Held, American (1928 - 2005)
Title: Scholes I
Year: 1991
Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 80
Image Size: 23 x 29 inches
Size: 29 x 34 in. (73.66 ...
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Untitled "D"
By Al Held
Located in London, GB
Signed and dated 'Al Held 61' (lower right)
Price: $75,000 (+5% import VAT)
Provenance:
Robert Miller Gallery, New York (stock no.1179359 HELD-0075)
Private collection, New York
Private collection, New York (acquired from the above in 2012)
Exhibited:
New York, Queens Museum; Norfolk, Virginia, Chrysler Museum; Maine, Portland Museum of Art; Miami Beach, Bass Museum of Art; Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Acrylic
Untitled "A"
By Al Held
Located in London, GB
Price: $75,000 (+5% import VAT)
Provenance:
Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Private collection, New York (acquired from the above in 1980)
Exhibited:
Montpellier, Musee Fabre, "...
Category
1960s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Acrylic
Scholes II, Screenprint by Al Held
By Al Held
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Al Held, American (1928 - 2005)
Title: Scholes II
Year: 1991
Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 80
Image Size: 23 x 29 inches
Size: 29 x 34 in. ...
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Kyoto-wa
By Al Held
Located in New York, NY
One of the most recognizable and collectible images by Al Held, Kyoto-wa was created by the artist as an original woodcut with lithography in 1985. Hand-signed in pencil, dated and ...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Lithograph, Woodcut
Scholes I
By Al Held
Located in New York, NY
This screenprint was created by the artist in 1991. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 80 measuring 29 x 34 in. (73.7 x 86.4 cm.). Published by The Metropolitan Museu...
Category
20th Century Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Scholes II
By Al Held
Located in New York, NY
This screenprint was created by the artist in 1991. Signed in pencil and numbered from the edition of 80 measuring 29 x 34 in. (73.7 x 86.4 cm.). Published by The Metropolitan Museu...
Category
20th Century Contemporary Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Pachinko
By Al Held
Located in San Francisco, CA
Category
Al Held Art
Related Items
Barcelona III (from Barcelona Suite)
By Joan Miró
Located in Kansas City, MO
Joan Miro
Barcelona III (from Barcelona Suite)
Etching and Aquatint and Carborundum in Colors on Guarro Wove paper
Year: 1972
Edition: 50
Signed and ...
Category
1970s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Handmade Paper, Etching, Aquatint
"Wigwam" Abstract Geometric Screen Print, 7/30 by Harvey Daniels
By Harvey Daniels
Located in Soquel, CA
Bold and bright limited edition abstract silkscreen print with fun colors and bold geometric shapes arranged in a lively, dynamic composition by Harvey Daniels (English, 1936-2013). ...
Category
1980s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Screen
H 12 in W 16.5 in D 0.07 in
Vintage Abstract Series #39 Fireworks
By Katherine Chang Liu
Located in Soquel, CA
Period mixed media print and painting by California artist Katherine Chang Liu (American, 20th-century). Signed "Fireworks Series #39" Katherine Chang Liu '87. Presented with a white...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Ink, Oil, Archival Paper, Etching
South Ridge Series #66, Abstract Landscape
By Katherine Chang Liu
Located in Soquel, CA
A beautiful abstracted landscape, mixed media print and painting, in soft pastel hues by California artist Katherine Chang Liu (American, 20th-century). Signed and dated "Katherine C...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Ink, Oil, Archival Paper, Etching
Print by Master Printmaker -- After Rain
Located in Troy, NY
This wonderful abstract print is the second in an edition of ten, signed by the artist. The print works as an abstract, and landscape piece, with the background of soft yellow-green ...
Category
1990s Abstract Al Held Art
Materials
Paper, Aquatint
Untitled, 1985
By Sam Francis
Located in Palo Alto, CA
This aquatint is hand-signed by Sam Francis (California, 1923- California, 1994) in pencil in the lower right and is a unique color trial proof aside from the edition of 30.
Francis...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Aquatint
Untitled (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black) by Stephen Buckley
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Untitled (Red, Yellow, Blue, Black) by Stephen Buckley
Additional information:
Medium: etching with aquatint
69.5 x 49.5 cm
27 3/8 x 19 1/2 in
signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Stephen Buckley is a British abstract artist.
Buckley was born in Leicester. He studied Fine Art under Richard Hamilton at Kings College, Durham University (1962-1967), where he was involved in the reconstruction of Marcel Duchamp's "Large Glass", and then at the University of Reading (1967-1979) under Terry Frost and Claude Rodgers.
A group of notable commissions in the early 1970s, from clients including Leith's Restaurant, gave Buckley a strong start to his career. These were followed by a solo exhibtion in Milan in 1973 and another at Kettle's Yard the following year. Solo shows were subsequently held at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford (1975), Waddington Galleries (1976), Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (1977), and Arts Council of Northern Ireland (1985) among many others.
His teaching career began at Canterbury College of Art (1969-70), before heading to Leeds, The Royal College of Art, and nine years at the Chelsea School of Art (1971-80). He was Artist in Residence at Kings College, Cambridge from 1972-74. In 1994, Buckley was appointed Professor of Fine Art at the University of Reading and Professor Emeritus in 2009. A monograph on Buckley was published in 1989, written by Marco Livingstone. His work has been compared to that of Richard Smith.
The work of Buckley is part of public collections and museums worldwide, including the British Council, Government Art, Kettle's Yard, Aberdeen Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed Borough Museum and Art Gallery, BUPA House, City Art Gallery, Bristol, City Art Gallery, Huddersfield, Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester Museum, National Art Gallery of Wales, Cardiff, Reading Museum, Southampton City Art Gallery, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Tate Britain, London, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. His work is also part of international collections including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut; Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende...
Category
20th Century Al Held Art
Materials
Etching
ETERNAL CITY Original Etching, Medieval Jerusalem, Stone Tablet, Jewish History
By Moshe Castel
Located in Union City, NJ
ETERNAL CITY JERUSALEM by the Israeli artist Moshe Castel (1909-1991) is a unique, unsigned Trial Proof from a limited edition etching, hand printed using traditional intaglio printmaking techniques on archival Arches paper 100% acid free. ETERNAL CITY JERUSALEM presents a deep red and orange brown ochre colored stone tablet...
Category
1970s Contemporary Al Held Art
Materials
Etching
Ernst Fuchs Sphinx Mystagoga Surreal Color Etching Vienna Fantastic Realism 1967
By Ernst Fuchs
Located in Meinisberg, CH
Ernst Fuchs
(Austrian, 1930 - 2015)
The Sphinx Mystagogo
Sheet Nr. 6 from the Folio “Die Sieben Bilder und Sprüche der Sphinx”, published in Autumn of 1967 by Galerie Sydow in Frankfurt, Germany.
• Aquatint Etching
• Ed. 79/99
• Sheet ca. 59 x 41.5 cm
• Plate signed
• Signed & numbered by the artist in pencil
Worldwide shipping for this object is complimentary - There are no additional charges for handling & delivery.
Ernst Fuchs was an Austrian painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, architect, stage designer, composer, poet, and one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.
I discovered him through H.R. Giger ‘s work, who himself was greatly inspired by the creations of Fuchs and on several occasions exhibited his friend ‘s art in his museum, the Château St-Germain, Gruyères, Switzerland.
I actually own the original folio box...
Category
1960s Surrealist Al Held Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Aquatint, Etching
Free Shipping
H 23.23 in W 16.34 in
Blooming Flower Fields, Abstract Expressionist Vivid Tones Brushstrokes, Pattern
Located in Barcelona, ES
"Blooming Flower Fields" is an abstract painting with an urban touch through dynamic, angular brushstrokes representing the gentle swaying of fl...
Category
2010s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Acrylic
The Razor's Edge
By Robert Motherwell
Located in New York, NY
A superb impression of this scarce color aquatint and lift-ground etching on German Etching paper. Signed and numbered 27/36 in pencil, lower right. Printed by Catherine Mousley in t...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Color, Etching, Aquatint
Quilt or Persian Rug Serigraph Pattern and Decoration Feminist Lithograph Print
By Dee Shapiro
Located in Surfside, FL
Dee Shapiro is a Contemporary American artist and writer associated with the Pattern and Decoration movement. I have seen this referred to as Hejaz.
Dee Shapiro was inspired to be an...
Category
1980s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Previously Available Items
Scholes I
By Al Held
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Al Held, American (1928 - 2005)
Title: Scholes I
Year: 1991
Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 80
Image Size: 23 x 29 inches
Size: 29 x 34 in. (73.66 ...
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Russell's Way
By Al Held
Located in New York, NY
Al Held
Russell's Way, 1989
color aquatint on Somerset paper
35.25h x 44.50w in
Category
1980s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Etching
Liv, Large Colorful Geometric Abstract by Al Held
By Al Held
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Al Held, American (1928 - 2005)
Title: Liv
Year: 1992
Medium: Etching with aquatint on paper, signed and numbered in pencil
Edition: 16/30
Image Size: 35.5 x 44.5 inches
Size...
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
Scholes, 1
By Al Held
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and numbered in pencil by the artist lower right
Edition: 80 (3/80)
Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Mezzanine Gallery, New York, with their blindstamp lower...
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Scholes II
By Al Held
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Signed and numbered in pencil by the artist lower right
Edition: 80 (3/80)
Published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Mezzanine Gallery, New York, with their blindstamp lower...
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Screen
Stone Ridge #1
By Al Held
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Al Held
Title: Stone Ridge #1
Year: 1983
Medium: Color etching
Edition number 53/65 numbered on verso.
Signed on verso "Al Held 83 53/65 AH.106.A"
...
Category
1980s Abstract Al Held Art
Materials
Etching
Magenta
By Al Held
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Al Held
Title: Magenta
Year: 1990
Medium: Color aquatint with spit bite aquatint
Edition: 37/50
Signed, dated, and numbered verso
Dimension: image: 35.5"h x 44.75"w, sheet: 4...
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Aquatint
Indigo
By Al Held
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Al Held (American, 1928-2005)
Title: "Indigo"
Year: 1990
Medium: Color aquatint with spit bite aquatint
Signed, dated, and numbered verso
Edition 32/50
Dimensions: image: 35....
Category
1990s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Art
Materials
Aquatint
Stone Ridge #4
By Al Held
Located in Austin, TX
Artist: Al Held
Title: Stone Ridge #4
Year: 1983
Medium: Color etching
Edition number 53/65 numbered on verso.
Signed on verso "Al Held 83 53/65 AH.106.A"
...
Category
1980s Abstract Al Held Art
Materials
Etching
Liv
By Al Held
Located in New York, NY
1992, color hardground etching with aquatint, 40 1/2 x 54 inches (102.9 x 137.2 cm), edition of 30, signed, numbered, and dated on reverse
Category
1990s Abstract Geometric Al Held Art
Materials
Aquatint, Etching
Fly Away
By Al Held
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A geometric abstract spit-bite aquatint executed in bright lime green, orange, red, yellow and yellow ochre by Post War artist Al Held. From the unnumbered edition of 50.
Provena...
Category
1990s Post-War Al Held Art
Materials
Aquatint
67-B21
By Al Held
Located in Palm Desert, CA
India Ink on paper
Category
1960s Contemporary Al Held Art
Materials
India Ink
Al Held art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Al Held art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, blue, red and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Al Held in paint, screen print, acrylic paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Al Held art, so small editions measuring 22 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Theodoros Stamos, Peter Voulkos, and Friedel Dzubas. Al Held art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,000 and tops out at $100,000, while the average work can sell for $5,565.
Artists Similar to Al Held
Joan Mitchell