Leonard Nelson Art
American, 1912-1993
Leonard Nelson is considered one of the artists in the first generation of Abstract Expressionists. Sam Hunter, a leading critic and historian of modern and contemporary art introduces Leonard Nelson in his book Leonard Nelson: A Life In Art as "one of the least appreciated, though deserving, artists of indisputable quality in the legendary New York School". Nelson was part of that first generation of American abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock, Arshile Gorky, Willem DeKooning, and Mark Rothko. Leonard Nelson has been called a "bridge" between Modernism and Abstract Expressionism. In the early 1950s Nelson became disenchanted with the New York art scene and left it for Philadelphia, beginning a teaching career that spanned more than forty years. Born in Camden, New Jersey, Nelson applied for a scholarship at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, regardless of having no portfolio. He was persuasive enough to be given one semester and subsequently was awarded an Academy fellowship to study painting. Nelson went on to earn the Academy's prestigious Cresson Traveling Scholarship award in 1939. He studied at PAFA from 1936 - 1940 with, among others, Henry McCarter and Daniel Garber, and then earned a teaching degree from the Philadelphia College of Art. Later Nelson earned a certificate from the Philadelphia Museum School. The Barnes Foundation also enriched his educational experience where he furthered his studies for five years. In 1951 Nelson accepted a teaching position at Moore College of where he taught until 1981 and remained professor emeritus until his death. Leonard Nelson's art was always ahead of its time. Several of his paintings and drawings from the late 1940s show an experimental style of colorfield painting. Colorfield painting was a term for organic, sensuous and joyous abstract painting in the 1960s. This is the direction that Nelson's later work of the 1970s, '80s and '90s would take. His early colorfield paintings in the 1960s were more representational of nature, using abstracted flowers and gardens. These works then evolved into a tight, highly textured reflection of nature and light in the 1970s. In these, luminescence and heavy impasto, carefully applied layer upon layer over months, or even years, resulted in some of Nelson's most celebrated works. Leonard Nelson was a dedicated teacher, painter, sculptor and print maker. He taught at the Art Center in Haiti, The Museum of Modern Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Print Club, Moore College of Art and The Hussian School of Art. Nelson is represented in many private and public collections including The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Walker Art Museum, The Dallas Museum of Contemporary Art, The Museum of Modern Art, The Portland Museum of Art and The Art Museum of San Francisco. Throughout his career Nelson had 65 one-man exhibitions in New York and Philadelphia. The Peridot Gallery, Hugo Gallery, Betty Parson Gallery, Peggy Guggenheim and Mortimer Brandt Gallery showed his works.to
1
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
1
1
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
3
7,790
4,999
2,504
1,373
2
2
Artist: Leonard Nelson
Les Competiteurs, American Modernist, Abstract Figurative Oil on Canvas, 1952
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Les Competiteurs" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 36" x 26" oil on canvas abstract figurative painting, created in 1952. The work is framed in classic black and si...
Category
1950s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Double Sided Abstractions, American Modernist Work on Paper
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Abstractions" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a double sided work on paper. The front is 10.5" x 7.5" and the back side drawing is 10" x 6.75". Both sides are signed and dated "Nelson 46", and the artworks are matted and framed behind glass.
Leonard Nelson (1912 - 1993) Born in Camden, New Jersey, Nelson applied for a scholarship at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, regardless of having no portfolio. He was persuasive enough to be given one semester and subsequently was awarded an Academy fellowship to study painting. Nelson went on to earn the Academy's prestigious Cresson Traveling Scholarship award in 1939. He studied at PAFA from 1936 - 1940 with, among others, Henry McCarter...
Category
1940s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Crayon, Gouache, Archival Paper, Pen
Related Items
Untitled (3)
By Mary Abbott
Located in Columbia, MO
Born in 1921, Mary Abbott was a first-wave Abstract Expressionist, producing some of the best and earliest examples of fully abstract work with a dramatic sense of movement and infus...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Gouache, Linen, Paper, Oil Crayon, Watercolor
1960s "Fruit Bowl in Mexico" Gouache & Oil Pastel Abstract Mid Century
By Gloria Dudfield
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield
Mexican Fruit Bowl
1960s
Oil Pastel and Gouache on Paper
36"x32" unframed $1600
*Custom framing available for additional charge. Please...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache
H 26 in W 36 in D 0.5 in
Into the Weekend by Barbara Schaumann - Contemporary Abstract Cubistic Painting
Located in DE
Barber Schaumann is a contemporary artist known for her vibrant, abstract interpretations of the female form. Her work combines bold colors with modern, geometric shapes, blending el...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 23.63 in W 31.5 in D 1.19 in
Rhythm of Togetherness -Barbara Schaumann - Contemporary Abstract Dance Painting
Located in DE
Barber Schaumann is a contemporary artist known for her vibrant, abstract interpretations of the female form. Her work combines bold colors with modern, geometric shapes, blending el...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 31.5 in W 23.63 in D 1.19 in
Interwoven Steps by Barbara Schaumann - Contemporary Abstract Dancers Painting
Located in DE
Barber Schaumann is a contemporary artist known for her vibrant, abstract interpretations of the female form. Her work combines bold colors with modern, geometric shapes, blending el...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 39.38 in W 31.5 in D 1.19 in
Friendship by Barbara Schaumann - Contemporary Abstract Cubistic Painting
Located in DE
Barber Schaumann is a contemporary artist known for her vibrant, abstract interpretations of the female form. Her work combines bold colors with modern, geometric shapes, blending el...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 25.6 in W 31.5 in D 1.19 in
Blue & Grey Green Plan: Abstract Geometric Framed Painting in Cool Toned Palette
By Donise English
Located in Hudson, NY
Abstract geometric painting with a cool toned palette of green, blue, and grey with accents of black and white against a sea foam green colored acrylic wash background
"Blue and Grey Green Plan" made by Hudson Valley artists, Donise English, in 2022
Graphite, colored pencil, and acrylic painting on vellum
24 x 18 inches unframed, 31 x 25 x 1.5 with an 8-ply white mat, non-glare plexi, and simple black moulding
Signed, verso
Excellent condition and ready to hang
This abstract geometric painting on vellum was made by Hudson Valley based artist, Donise English, in 2022. The composition begins with a blue green toned background of acrylic wash. A grid of box-like patterns in sky blue, green, grey, and black with white line work are stacked to create an irregular shape or an "imagined city grid", says the artist. The painting on vellum is complemented by a simple black frame with an 8-ply white mat, non-glare plexi, and wire backing. It's in excellent condition and ready to hang.
About the artist:
Donise English emphasizes lines, grids, and fields of subtle color to evoke imagined places and invented structures. While precise lines and straight angles are often associated with themes in architecture and urban planning designs, English conveys a geometric motif guided by intuition rather than a ruler. Variations on grids retain flaws and unmistakable traces of the artists’ hand; her style of draftsmanship shies away from intellectualism and instead makes her compositions feel very personal. A central checkerboard formation floats over a ground of pastel color or washes of grey or cream. Each design is intensely intricate, incorporating gouache, acrylic, pen, graphite, ink and colored pencil. The artist recently retired from her decades career teaching at Marist College and is now devoted full time to her art making.
Artist Statement:
My work is about the way visual diagrams present information that describes how something is made or the way it is. I am interested in drawing and collaging multiple layers of information that refer abstractly to maps, architectural drawings and blueprints or patterns and structures found in such things as roller coasters, power lines and fences. I use gouache and collaged paper in a series of layers that are a visual and ideological response to the previous layer to define my pictorial space. For each piece I create a set of rules to follow about the use of a limited palette, a grid format, opacity of paper and whether a piece may include curving lines or maintain a rectilinear structure.
Artist CV:
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts in Painting
Bard College 1986
Bachelor of Science in Art History
State University College at New Paltz 1977
Additional Study: New York Studio School (Drawing Marathons)
Columbia University, School of Architecture
Women’s Studio Workshop
TEACHING
Professor of Studio Art, Department of Art and Art History, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY
Coordinator, Interior Design Program, Florence, Italy campus
1992-present
AWARDS
NYFA Fellowship in Painting 2018
Invitational Award for Outstanding Contemporary Talent,
University of Bridgeport, CT 2000
Purchase Prize, “11th National Juried Exhibition”
College of Notre Dame of Maryland, Baltimore 1999
First Prize, “Women in the Visual Arts ‘95”
Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, CT 1995
Joseph A. Cain Memorial Purchase Award for Sculpture
Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, TX 1994
Honorable Mention, “National Juried Exhibition”
University of Bridgeport, CT 1993
Individual Artists Fellowship in Sculpture
Dutchess Arts Fund 1992/93
Tallix, Morris, Singer Internship in Sculpture
Tallix Foundry, Beacon, NY 1990/91
MEMBERSHIP Royal British Society of Sculptors
SELECTED JURIED/INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
2020
“edu: Art Faculty of the Hudson Valley”, Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY
2019
“Contemporary Abstraction”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Mixed Media”, SITE Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2018
“JuxtaPositions”, The Painting Center, New York, NY
“Peculiar Rarities”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2017
“Interlock: Color and Contrast in Abstraction”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Donise English: Encaustics”, Catskill Art Society, Livingston Manor, NY
2016
“Let’s Stay in Touch”, Howard County Center for the Arts, Ellicott City, MD
“Under, Over, After Over”, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY
2015
“Off the Grid”, Arts & Culture Program, Albany International Airport, Albany, NY
“Gridspace”, KMOCA, Kingston, NY
“Abstraction”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Assuming Identity”, NY Institute of Technology, New York, NY
2013
“Modern Artists”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region”, The Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY
Stone Canoe/Community Folk Art Center, Syracuse, NY
2012
New York Institute of Technology, New York, NY
“Contemporary Painters (Who Just Happen To Be Women)”,
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Strange Glue: Collage at 100”, Cambridge School, Weston, MA
“Dear Mother Nature”, Dorsky Museum, SUNY New Paltz, NY
“Fresher Paint”, Rockland Center for the Arts, Nyack, NY
Courthouse Gallery, Lake George Arts Project, Lake George, NY
2011
“Process+Content: Donise English”, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY “Donise English-Paintings”,Orange County Community College,
Newburgh, NY
“Gender Matters/Matters of Gender”, Freedman Gallery,
Albright College, Reading, PA
2010
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Encaustics: Wax and Image”, Westchester Community College,
White Plains, NY
“Dots, Lines and Figures”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Spring Awakening”, NY Institute of Technology, New York, NY
“Clay City Dreams”, NY Institute of Technology, New York, NY
“Texture,Pattern, Fragment”, Krause Gallery, Moses Brown School,
Providence, RI
2009
“Collage”, NY Institute of Technology, New York, NY
“Working in Wax”, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
“Encaustic 2009”, College of New Rochelle, NY
“Three Artists”, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
“Convergence: The Human Experience”,Howard County Center for the Arts, MD
2008
“Suckers and Biters: Love, Lollipops, and Exquisite Corpse”
Chashama Gallery, New York, NY
Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson NY
2007
“Patterns and Light”, Blue Hill Gallery, Blue Hill, ME
“Suckers and Biters”, AG Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2006
“100 Artists, 100 Watercolors”, Jeannie Freilich Fine Art,
New York, NY
“On/Of Paper”,Kirkland Art Center, Clinton, NY
“The Love Show”, Manchester Community College, Manchester, CT
2005
The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, MN
“Small Tales”, Valdosta State University, Georgia
National Juried Exhibition,Art Institute and Gallery
Salisbury, MD, Juror: Stephen Haller
“Greed, Envy, Jealousy, Fear”, TSL Warehouse, Hudson, NY
2004
“Women in the Middle: Borders, Barriers, Intersections”
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
“Girl Art Now”,Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI
3 Person Exhibition, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, CA
“The Feminine Eye”, Bradley University, Peoria, IL “Women Painting Women”, McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA “Thought Patterns”, Kent Place Gallery, Summit, NJ “Surface, Matter and Artifice”, Dutchess Community College Art Gallery
Poughkeepsie, NY
2003
“Beefcake/Cheesecake”,Orange County Center for Contemporary Art,
Santa Ana, CA,Juror: Jamie Wilson, Curator
Halpert Bienniel, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC
Juror: Jeff Fleming, Senior Curator, Des Moines Art Center “The Great White Oak”, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
2002
“Cat Calls”, Red Clay Arts, Brooklyn
“Hudson Valley Regional”, SUNY New Paltz
Juror: Sydney Jenkins, Director, Ramapo College Art Galleries
2001
One-Person Exhibition, Davis and Hall Gallery, Hudson, NY “Beyond the Surface”, Womanmade Gallery, Chicago
One-Person Exhibition, Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY
2000
“Vision 2000...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Gouache, Archival Paper, Color Pencil, Graphite
Untitled, 1965
By Oswaldo Vigas
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Predominantly recognized as a self-taught painter, he also worked in architectural murals, sculptures, ceramics, prints and drawings.
Vigas is one...
Category
1960s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
1960s "Storm at Sea" Gouache and Oil Pastel Abstract SF Artist
By Gloria Dudfield
Located in Arp, TX
Storm at Sea
1960s
Gouache and Oil Pastel on paper
35.75"x33.25 float mount black wood frame measures 38.5"x1.5"x36"
Gloria (Fischer) Dudfield
July 12, 1922 – May 27, 2015
Came from...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache
H 38.5 in W 36 in D 1.5 in
HUGE 1970'S FRENCH CUBIST ABSTRACT SIGNED FRENCH OIL - BRIGHT & COLORFUL NUDE
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Artist/ School: French School, signed lower corner, circa 1980's period.
Title: Cubist abstract composition of figures.
Medium: oil painting, on canvas.
Size: frame: 32.5 x ...
Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 32.5 in W 26.5 in D 1 in
'Surrealist Abstract', Chouinard Institute, LACMA, MGM studios, Dr. Seuss, Osaka
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left, 'Inman' for Robert Inman (American, 1927–2016) and dated, beneath the mat, 'September, 1983'. Titled on old backing 'The Wanderer'.
Pap...
Category
1980s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Oil Pastel, Mixed Media, Gouache, Paper
1960s "Red Landing" Gouache and Oil Pastel Abstract SF Female Artist
By Gloria Dudfield
Located in Arp, TX
Gloria Dudfield
Red Landing
1960s
Oil Pastel and Gouache on Paper
26.5"x36"
Good Condition - Wear consistent with age and history. Small areas of foxing. Edges have tears, paper sho...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Paper, Oil Pastel, Gouache
H 26.5 in W 36 in D 0.5 in
Previously Available Items
"Colorfield #410", American Modernist, Gradient Color Field Abstraction, 1980's
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
Colorfield #410 is a wonderful example of American modernist Leonard Nelson's color field compositions and expression. The unframed, abstract oil on canvas measures 52" x 60" and is ...
Category
1980s Color-Field Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
Figurative Abstraction #2, American Modernist, Oil on Canvas, 1953
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Figurative Abstraction #2" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 12.25" x 14" oil on canvas abstract figurative painting, created in 1953. The work is framed in a broad ...
Category
1950s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 17.5 in W 19.25 in D 2 in
Figurative Abstraction #1, American Modernist, Oil on Canvas, 1953
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Figurative Abstraction #1" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 11.5" x 14.25" oil on canvas abstract figurative painting, created in 1953. The work is framed in a broa...
Category
1950s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 16.5 in W 19.25 in D 2 in
Abstract in Green, American Modernist, Early Color Field Abstraction, 1978
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Abstract in Green" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 20" x 26" oil on canvas abstract painting. The work is currently unframed and signed on verso: “L. Nelson 78”.
P...
Category
1970s Color-Field Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Elle's Garden Bed", American Modernist, Color Field Abstraction, 1980's
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
LEONARD NELSON (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1912 - 1993) Elle's Garden Bed is a superb example of Leonard Nelson's Color-Field compositions. The oil on canvas measures 60 x 50 inches...
Category
1980s Color-Field Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Lonesome Blues, American Modernist, Figurative Abstract, Oil on Board, 1951
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Lonesome Blues" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 16" x 20" oil on board figurative abstract painting. The painting is painted in vibrant colors and defined edges an...
Category
1950s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Board, Oil
Three Figures, Abstract Figurative Art, Woodblock Print in Red, Signed, 1947
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Three Figures in Red" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 13" x 16.5" abstract figurative woodblock print, created in 1947. ...
Category
1940s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper
Three Figures, Abstract Figurative Art, Woodblock Print in Yellow, Signed, 1947
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Three Figures in Yellow" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 13" x 16.5" abstract figurative woodblock print, created in 194...
Category
1940s Abstract Geometric Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Archival Ink, Archival Paper
"Colorfield #388", American Modernist, Color Field Abstraction, 1989
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Colorfield #388 Meditation" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 50.25" x 46.5" oil on canvas abstract painting. The work is framed and the stretched canvas is signed o...
Category
1980s Color-Field Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
H 58.25 in W 54.5 in D 2 in
"Color Abstract #40", American Modernist, Gestural Abstract, Oil on Board, 1955
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Color Abstract #40" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 10" x 8" oil on board gestural abstract painting. The painting is framed and signed "Nelson 55" in the lower ri...
Category
1950s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Board, Oil
"Orange Abstract", American Modernist, Gestural Abstract, Oil on Canvas, 1946
By Leonard Nelson
Located in Doylestown, PA
"Orange Abstract" by American modernist painter Leonard Nelson is a 18" x 20" oil on canvas painting. This gestural abstraction is painted predominantly in orange and yellow. The ter...
Category
1940s Abstract Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Trio
By Leonard Nelson
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Presenting an original mixed media painting by American artist Leonard Nelson.
"Trio" is an original mixed media work, signed and dated 1942, ...
Category
1940s Leonard Nelson Art
Materials
Mixed Media
Leonard Nelson art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Leonard Nelson 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 and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Leonard Nelson in paint, canvas, fabric 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 Leonard Nelson art, so small editions measuring 15 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Arthur Osver, Irene Rice Pereira, and Kristy Chettle. Leonard Nelson art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,500 and tops out at $45,000, while the average work can sell for $10,688.