A bit of surfboard wax, a small Dixie cup and the sun sparked an epiphany for artist Peter Alexander and began his rise through the Light and Space movement of the 1960s. After seeing wax dry into a translucent block, Alexander chose resin as his signature medium and created sculptures that appear to be constructed out of light itself.
Alexander was born in 1939 in Los Angeles. By 1966, he had studied under Estonian-born American architect Louis Kahn at the University of Pennsylvania and transferred to several universities before graduating with a bachelor’s and master's degree in fine art from UCLA. He explored the possibilities of resin throughout the 1960s. Many of his resin sculptures are monolithic and contemplative, with a mysterious air, as seen in his Cloud Boxes, which seem to trap miniature clouds within blocks.
Like his Light and Space contemporaries James Turrell, Larry Bell, Mary Corse and DeWain Valentine, Alexander wished to capture light in the form of an artistic environment. After exhibiting at Nicholas Wilder Gallery in Los Angeles and the Robert Elkon Gallery in New York, Alexander turned to painting, drawing, lithography and polaroid photography as new ways to explore the effects of light. In his sculptures, the color changed in tone and intensity based on the light source and the position of the viewer. In his later work, Alexander’s curiosity about color informed much of his art, which combined light and hues to elicit various emotions.
He died in 2020 at the age of 81. Alexander’s art has appeared in films including Erin Brockovich, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Shopgirl. The Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the San Diego Museum of Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Centre Pompidou in Paris have all exhibited his work.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Peter Alexander’s prints and multiples.
$10,000Sale Price|20% Off
Hallelujah II, Peter Alexander
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Hallelujah II Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Sign...
Lithograph
9/8/13 (Aqua Waterfall)
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Among the pioneering California-based Light and Space artists, Peter Alexander has spent the course of his career focusing intensely on light and its manifold effects in his sculptur...
Polyurethane
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
San Blas II, Peter Alexander
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: San Blas II Year: 1988 Edition: 75, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed...
Lithograph
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
Sitka, Peter Alexander
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Sitka Year: 1988 Edition: 75, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed and n...
Lithograph
$2,800Sale Price|20% Off
San Blas IV, Peter Alexander
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: San Blas IV Year: 1988 Edition: 75, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed...
Lithograph
$1,000
H 20 in W 27.5 in
Wrapped Trees, Switzerland poster (Hand Signed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude)
By Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Located in New York, NY
Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Christo, Javacheff Christo Wrapped Trees, Switzerland (Hand Signed by Christo and Jeanne-Claude), 1998 Offset lithograph poster (Hand Signed) Signed Christ...
Lithograph, Offset
$2,800
H 25.5 in W 19.8 in
Salvador Dalí Whoever Takes Carmen (Salvador Dalí prints Salvador Dalí Carmen)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Salvador Dalí Whoever Takes Carmen Away Must Pay with His Life 1970 (from Carmen): Lithograph in colors on Arches paper. 25.5 x 19.8 inches (64.8 x 50.5 cm). Good overall vintage ...
Paper, Lithograph
$2,000
H 40 in W 25.5 in
The Wrapped Reichstag at Night, scarce offset lithograph Hand Signed by Christo)
By Christo
Located in New York, NY
Christo The Wrapped Reichstag at Night (Hand Signed), 1993 Offset Lithograph Hand signed by Christo on lower right front 40 × 25 1/2 inches Unframed and affixed to matting (as it ha...
Lithograph, Offset
$1,104Sale Price|41% Off
H 21.5 in W 26 in
SAILBOATS Signed Lithograph, Abstract Seascape, Asian Boats Aqua Red Brown Green
By Peter Max
Located in Union City, NJ
SAILBOATS is an original hand drawn lithograph by the renowned American Pop artist, Peter Max, printed in 1980 in an edition of 165, using traditional hand lithography techniques on ...
Lithograph
$4,400Sale Price|36% Off
H 18 in W 19 in D 11 in
Stirring Within Light Gray Abstract Metal Wall Sculpture
By Zammy Migdal
Located in Miami, FL
From the newest original works by Zammy Migdal, these wall objects hang as sculpture on the wall, each one unique, forming its own fluid story. This light gray work is from a series...
Metal
$716Sale Price|20% Off
H 15 in W 22 in
Pol Bury, Tribute to Mondrian, from Derriere le Miroir, 1982
By Pol Bury
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Pol Bury (1922–2005), titled Hommage a Mondrian (Tribute to Mondrian), originates from the historic 1982 folio Derriere le Miroir, No. 250, Hommage a Aim...
Lithograph
Carib
By Zammy Migdal
Located in Miami, FL
This installation is made up of individual metal and polyurethane painted elements that can also be purchased individually and create any design scheme. Influenced by the waters of ...
Steel
$3,000Sale Price|21% Off
H 27 in W 33.5 in
BALBOA PARK Signed Lithograph, Tower San Diego California, Pop Art Landscape
By Peter Max
Located in Union City, NJ
BALBOA PARK is an original hand drawn lithograph by the renowned American Pop artist, Peter Max, printed in 1990 in an edition of 150, using traditional ha...
Lithograph
$10,000
H 30 in W 20 in
The Golden Road, Los Angeles Music Center Opera print (Hand Signed & inscribed)
By David Hockney
Located in New York, NY
David Hockney Richard Strauss: Los Angeles Music Center Opera (Hand Signed and Inscribed), 1993 Offset Lithograph (hand signed and inscribed by David Hockney) 30 × 20 inches Signed a...
Lithograph, Offset
$55,000
H 76 in W 82 in D 60 in
Undulating Trio in White Outdoor Large Abstract Metal Sculpture
By Zammy Migdal
Located in Miami, FL
This large monumental white sculpture is actually painted in three colors of white. The outdoor/indoor work is suited for any environment as it is fabricated from aluminum and poly...
Aluminum
$8,800
H 22.5 in W 18 in
Historic rare Ed Ruscha Leo Castelli Gallery exhibition offset lithograph poster
By Ed Ruscha
Located in New York, NY
Edward Ruscha: New Paintings, Leo Castelli Gallery, 1980 Offset lithograph poster 22.5 x 18 inches Unframed Published by Leo Castelli Gallery Good vintage condition with some handli...
Lithograph, Offset
$4,500
H 38 in W 22 in
Fagends Carved in Rock, De-Accessioned from the Denver Art Museum Signed/N
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Claes Oldenburg Fagends Carved in Rock, De-Accessioned from the Denver Art Museum (137, Axsom and Platzker), 1975 Offset Lithograph. Hand signed and ...
Graphite, Lithograph, Offset
Hallelujah II, Peter Alexander
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Hallelujah II Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Sign...
Lithograph
Untitled, Peter Alexander
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Untitled Year: 1989 Edition: 1/1 Medium: Monotype on Guarro paper Size: 30.25 x 33 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed and dated by ...
Monotype
Sold
H 30 in W 31 in
Los Angeles Modernist Light & Space Artist Peter Alexander Lithograph Locust
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Surfside, FL
LOCUST, 1992 lithograph on heavy black paper, hand signed with initials of artist/numbered/dated in gold metallic ink recto 30 X 31 inches Limited edition of 100 Peter Alexander was born in Los Angeles, California in 1939 the fourth generation of a well-to-do Southern California family that ran oil fields. He grew up in Newport Beach, where the sun and the ocean were staples. (He was surfing by the age of 13.) One of the most lasting memories of his youth was watching a meteor shower over the beach. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania under famed architect Louis Kahn (1957–60); During summers, he produced architectural drawings in the Los Angeles studio of the Modernist Richard Neutra. He continued his studies at the Architectural Association in London, England (1960–62); the University of California, Berkeley (1962–1963); the University of Southern California (1963–64); and the University of California, Los Angeles (1964–65) and (1965–66). After initially working as an architect, he rose to prominence in the 1960s with translucent resin sculptures. He has also produced paintings, including a series that depicts luminous aerial views of the city lights stretching across the Los Angeles basin. He also was commissioned to paint a large mural for the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. His art has appeared in the films Erin Brockovich, Terminator 3 and Shopgirl. Craig Krull Gallery exhibited a survey of Alexander's work, including paintings and sculptures from 1970 - 2009 in conjunction with Pacific Standard Time. Alexander will be exhibited in Pacific Standard Time museum shows as well, including “Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers Arts Center” organized by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, “Phenomenal: California Light and Space” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and “Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Paintings and Sculpture 1945-1970” at the The J. Paul Getty Museum His work bears a relationship to the Light & Space Movement and Minimalism artists James Turrell, Larry Bell, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, Billy Al Bengston, Joe Novak, Laddie John Dill, Lita Albuquerque. His experiments with industrial materials, begun when he was a student at UCLA, led to the creation of ethereal sculptures...
Lithograph
Gardena
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Gardena Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed and...
Lithograph
Hallelujah II
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Hallelujah II Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Guarro paper Size: 22 x 30 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Sign...
Lithograph
Hallelujah II
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Hallelujah II Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Arches paper Size: 35.5 x 23 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Si...
Lithograph
Hallelujah II
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Hallelujah II Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Arches paper Size: 35.5 x 23 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Si...
Lithograph
Hallelujah II
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Alexander (1939) Title: Hallelujah II Year: 1988 Edition: 50, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Arches paper Size: 35.5 x 23 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Si...
Lithograph
Sold
H 22 in W 30 in
Peter Alexander "Sitka" Signed Limited Edition Lithograph
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in San Rafael, CA
Peter Alexander (American, b. 1939) Sitka (from the Portfolio 'In Barcelona' 1988-89) Limited Edition Lithograph On Guarro paper and published by Poligrafa, Barcelona Spain Signed in...
Lithograph
Untitled
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Among the pioneering California-based Light and Space artists, Peter Alexander has spent the course of his career focusing intensely on light and its manifold effects in his sculptur...
Resin
Sunset (April 27, 73)
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Among the pioneering California-based Light and Space artists, Peter Alexander has spent the course of his career focusing intensely on light and its manifold effects in his sculptur...
Paper, Pastel
Untitled
By Peter Alexander, 1939
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Among the pioneering California-based Light and Space artists, Peter Alexander has spent the course of his career focusing intensely on light and its manifold effects in his sculptur...
Resin