Al Held Paintings

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

Artist: Al Held

Al HeldUntitled "D", 1961

$75,000

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 Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Al HeldScholes II, 1991

Price Upon Request

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 Paintings

Materials

Screen

Karina Gentinetta"Divine Spontaneity II" Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Abstract Painting 48"x36", 2023

$11,000

H 49.5 in W 37.5 in D 2.5 in

"Divine Spontaneity II" Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Abstract Painting 48"x36"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Divine Spontaneity II" 2023, 48" H x 36" W. Vertical abstract painting consisting of acrylics, house paint, oil pastels, color pencils, and carbon pencils on canvas by Argentine-bo...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

House Paint, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Oil Pastel, Color Pencil

Karina Gentinetta"Ranunculus II" Large Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Blush Rose Abstract 84"x60", 2024

$28,000

H 85.5 in W 61.5 in D 2.5 in

"Ranunculus II" Large Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Blush Rose Abstract 84"x60"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Ranunculus II", 2024, 84" H x 60" W. Large-scale abstract painting in hues of blush crimson consisting of acrylic, pencils, and oil pastels on canvas by Argentine-born artist Karina...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil

Karina Gentinetta"Adagio in Burnt Umber" Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Brown Hue Abstract 72"x60", 2025

$20,000

H 73.5 in W 61.5 in D 3 in

"Adagio in Burnt Umber" Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Brown Hue Abstract 72"x60"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Adagio in Burnt Umber" 2025, 72" H x 60" W. Abstract, mixed media painting consisting of acrylic, pencils, and oil pastels on canvas by Argentine-born artist Karina Gentinetta (feat...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil

Karina Gentinetta"Verdigris" Large Scale Acrylic, Oil Pastels and Pencils Green Abstract 84"x60", 2025

$28,000

H 85.5 in W 61.5 in D 2.5 in

"Verdigris" Large Scale Acrylic, Oil Pastels and Pencils Green Abstract 84"x60"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Verdigris" 2025, 84" H x 60" W. A captivating large-scale abstract painting by Argentine-born artist Karina Gentinetta, renowned for her work featured in Architectural Digest, Elle...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil

Andrea SpinelliUrban Abstraction (ripped off posters) Italian Expressionist Painting on Canvas, 1980- 1990

$1,424

H 20.87 in W 32.68 in D 1.19 in

Urban Abstraction (ripped off posters) Italian Expressionist Painting on Canvas

By Andrea Spinelli

Located in Firenze, IT

The present work of art titled "Urban Abstraction (ripped off posters)" is part of a series of paintings that the artist composed in the 1980s and 1990s inspired by the observation of the urban reality of those years. The artist take the cue from his walks in Florence, both in the center and in the suburbs, and by the observation of billboards and posters scattered throughout the city. The mass of information, colors, messages and words were carried on the canvas with acrylic colors, ideally reconstructing the tears and overlaps of all the information and advertising contained on these huge sheets of paper that invade our cities. The geometric lines are overlaid with jagged lines, overlaps and color dripping and also the choice in the color palette, with different shades of white, gray, rose, orange red and blue helps in rendering the result of the tears and ripped paper. The result is a beautiful multicolored modern abstract canvas, both aesthetically and ethically, with many rich layers of color, texture and expression in which the artist leaves his own message. The painting is housed in a simple modern white lacquer wood frame. Andrea Spinelli...

Category

Late 20th Century Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Karina Gentinetta"Rhapsody in Red" Large-Scale Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Abstract 72"x60", 2025

$20,000

H 73.5 in W 61.5 in D 2.5 in

"Rhapsody in Red" Large-Scale Acrylic, Oil Pastels, Pencils Abstract 72"x60"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Rhapsody in Red", 2025, 72" H x 60" W. Large-scale abstract painting in hues of a warm, desaturated crimson consisting of acrylic, pencils, and oil pastels on canvas by Argentine-bo...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Carbon Pencil, Color Pencil

Alex K. MasonAbstract Nature Painting on Canvas, Framed. Acrylic, Ink. Greens, Blues, Peach, 2018

$3,525

H 31.5 in W 25.5 in D 2.25 in

Abstract Nature Painting on Canvas, Framed. Acrylic, Ink. Greens, Blues, Peach

By Alex K. Mason

Located in Versailles, KY

Abstract Nature Painting Alex K. Mason "Lush Green Spring". Acrylic, Ink on Canvas in white washed frame, 31.5"H x 25.5"W x 2.25"D, Greens, Blues, peach, orange, yellow, grey, whites...

Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Ink, Acrylic, Gouache

Karina Gentinetta"Earth Tone" Acrylics in Raw Sienna and Brown Tones Abstract Painting 42" x 28", 2025

$9,600

H 42 in W 28 in D 1 in

"Earth Tone" Acrylics in Raw Sienna and Brown Tones Abstract Painting 42" x 28"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Earth Tones" 2025, 42" H x 28" W (framed - unframed, it measures 40.5" x 26.5") Abstract, vertical orientation abstract painting consisting of acrylics and part of the new "Earthen...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Gary DenmarkLarge Gary Denmark Contemporary Abstract Flora Monotype Print Monoprint Artist, 1993

$950

H 31.5 in W 31.5 in D 1.5 in

Large Gary Denmark Contemporary Abstract Flora Monotype Print Monoprint Artist

Located in Surfside, FL

Gary Denmark (American, born 1953). A monotype art print on Arches paper. Titled, "Being in Salgadoland," produced 1993. An abstract work with shapes a...

Category

1990s Contemporary Al Held Paintings

Materials

Monotype

Karina Gentinetta"Labyrinth" Acrylics and Ink on Paper in Hues of Raw Umber, Black and White, 2021

$4,850

H 23.5 in W 21.5 in D 1 in

"Labyrinth" Acrylics and Ink on Paper in Hues of Raw Umber, Black and White

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Labyrinth" 2021, 23.5" x 21.5" vertical drawing on paper by Argentine-born artist Karina Gentinetta (featured in Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, New York Times, Traditional Home, ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Glaze, Ink, Acrylic

Karina Gentinetta"Earth Tone II" Acrylics in Raw Sienna Cognac and Brown Tones Abstract 42" x 28", 2026

$9,600

H 42 in W 28 in D 2 in

"Earth Tone II" Acrylics in Raw Sienna Cognac and Brown Tones Abstract 42" x 28"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Earth Tone II" 2026, 42" H x 28" W (framed - unframed, it measures 40.5" x 26.5") Abstract, vertical orientation abstract painting consisting of acrylics and part of the new "Earth...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Karina Gentinetta"Bodacious" Large Scale Black Blue White with Ochre Accents Abstract 72" x 72", 2023

$24,000

H 73.5 in W 73.5 in D 2.25 in

"Bodacious" Large Scale Black Blue White with Ochre Accents Abstract 72" x 72"

By Karina Gentinetta

Located in New York, NY

"Bodacious" 2023, 72" x 72" square. An oversized, large-scale, bold and dramatic abstract painting consisting of acrylic, house paint, pencils, and oil pastels on canvas by Argentine...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Expressionist Al Held Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel, Acrylic, Color Pencil, House Paint

Previously Available Items

Al HeldCamerata XVI, 1989

Sold

H 18 in W 23.75 in

Camerata XVI

By Al Held

Located in Toronto, Ontario

Al Held (1928-2005) was one of the most prominent and successful American artists. associated with the hard-edge painting. He was a pioneer in the evolution of abstraction and redefi...

Category

1980s Abstract Geometric Al Held Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

Al Held paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Al Held paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of paintings to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, orange and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Al Held in paint, acrylic paint, synthetic resin 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 paintings, so small editions measuring 24 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Larry Zox, Larry Poons, and Joseph Glasco. Al Held paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $75,000 and tops out at $100,000, while the average work can sell for $75,000.