Al Held was an American Abstract expressionist painter.
13 Facts About Al Held
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Al Held was particularly well known for his large scale Hard-edge paintings.
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Al Held originally thought about studying in Mexico under the prominent muralist David Siqueiros, who created gigantic pieces that contained intense political material.
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However, the art scene in New York was starting to gain new popularity and Al Held moved back there.
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In 1964, Al Held was awarded the Logan Medal of the Arts and received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966.
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Three of Al Held's murals were in the original WTC 7 building.
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At age 76, Al Held was found dead in his villa swimming pool near Camerata, Italy, on July 27,2005.
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In 1967 Al Held felt that he was being limited by the flatness of previous hard edge abstractions.
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Al Held wanted a way to create more picture space in some way, however painting shapes onto shapes would constantly hide beneath one another.
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Therefore, Al Held believed that adding depth and making the shapes appear three-dimensional on the canvas was his best option.
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Al Held's estate has been represented by White Cube since 2018.
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Al Held married Giselle Wexler in 1953, with whom he had a daughter, Mara.
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Al Held later married art historian and museum director, Kathleen Monaghan.