Leonard Nelson Furniture

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.

Creator: Leonard Nelson

Leonard Nelson Wall Sculpture

$11,500

Leonard Nelson Wall Sculpture

By Leonard Nelson

Located in West Palm Beach, FL

A great example of Leonard Nelson's Wall Sculpture. Leonard Nelson is Primarily Known as a Painter. Very few Sculptures were made, and even fewer have appeared in the marketplace. Th...

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1950s American Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Los Castillo Wall Sculpture

$450

H 11.82 in W 9.45 in D 0.79 in

Los Castillo Wall Sculpture

By Los Castillo

Located in Mexico City, CDMX

Circa 1960. We offer this handmade mixed metals copper brass stone inlay wall-mounted sculpture in the style of Los Castillo Taxco Mexico.

Category

1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Metal, Brass

Tripart pottery wall sculpture

$19,500

H 30.75 in W 111.25 in D 3.25 in

Tripart pottery wall sculpture

Located in New York, NY

Tripart pottery wall sculpture with organic design.

Category

1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Pottery

Ceramic Chain mail wall sculpture

$700 / item

H 279 in W 15 in D 3 in

Ceramic Chain mail wall sculpture

By Asmaa Aman-Tran

Located in Attleboro, MA

This ceramic link chain wall hanging portrays a nomadic feel that embodies a sense of wanderlust and free-spiritedness. handbuilt from stoneware cla...

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2010s American Organic Modern Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Ceramic

Ceramic Wall Sculpture with Birds

$1,657 / item

H 11.03 in W 21.66 in D 1.19 in

Ceramic Wall Sculpture with Birds

Located in Antwerp, BE

Ceramic wall art sculpture with birds. Belgium 1960s. Width:55 cm. Height:28 cm. depth:3 cm.

Category

Mid-20th Century Belgian Mid-Century Modern Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Ceramic

Ceramic Link Chain Wall Sculpture

$2,100 / item

H 50 in W 30 in D 2 in

Ceramic Link Chain Wall Sculpture

By Asmaa Aman-Tran

Located in Attleboro, MA

Chains echo different emotions in us, some see them as a symbol of imprisonment, and vulnerability and some see as an emotion of inter connectivity and strong bond between the people...

Category

2010s American Organic Modern Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Ceramic, Stoneware

C. Jere 'Spiral II' Wall Sculpture

$850

H 46 in W 20 in D 11 in

C. Jere 'Spiral II' Wall Sculpture

By Curtis Jeré, Artisan House

Located in Asbury Park, NJ

Artisan House Inc., C. Jere wall-mounted sculpture in brass and chrome, style no. 100688, Spiral II. Complete with in-tact "Certificate of Authenticity."

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1980s American Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Brutalist wall sculpture, 1970s

$1,085

H 29.53 in W 70.87 in D 1.97 in

Brutalist wall sculpture, 1970s

Located in Leuven, Vlaams Gewest

Architectural brutalist wall mounted sculpture made from cast metal. Imposing wall sculpture 1970s - Belgium Height: 75cm Width: 180cm Ref.: 25090304 *All images are always part...

Category

1970s German Brutalist Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Metal

J.B. Léonard, Two Seagulls in Flight, Art Deco Bronze Sculpture

$1,850

H 19 in W 24.5 in D 7.25 in

J.B. Léonard, Two Seagulls in Flight, Art Deco Bronze Sculpture

Located in Atlanta, GA

A bronze sculpture signed J.B. Leonard, this twentieth-century French work depicts two seagulls in flight above a wave-like base in the Art Deco style. The composition captures the t...

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