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 Hanging Glass Wall Sculpture

By Leonard Nelson

Located in New York, NY

Leonard Nelson was a quiet force in the evolution of 20th-century American art. The figurative studies he produced in New York City in the 1940s helped shape Abstract Expressionism a...

Category

1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Metal

Leonard Nelson Hanging Glass Wall Sculpture

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...

Category

1950s American Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Bronze

Leonard Nelson Wall Sculpture

Category

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

Materials

Ceramic, Canvas, Wood

Figural Ceramic Wall Hanging Sculpture

H 22.45 in W 16.15 in D 1.19 in

Brass Longhorn Wall Sculpture

Located in New York, NY

The Hollywood Regency style brass longhorn wall sculpture is a striking and glamorous piece of art that epitomizes the opulence and drama of the Hollywood Regency design era. Crafted...

Category

Mid-20th Century Korean Hollywood Regency Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Brass

Brass Longhorn Wall Sculpture

H 16 in W 29 in D 5.25 in

Brutalist Earthenware Slab Wall Hanging Sculpture 1970s After Peter Voulkos

By Peter Voulkos

Located in Melbourne, AU

A total commitment to experimentation with materials. This piece is unsigned, but we note the muscular slab-built Brutalism of this piece and wonder about the influence of American Brutalist sculptor...

Category

1970s Australian Brutalist Vintage Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Earthenware

H 29 in W 39 in D 7 in

Geometrical Patterns Silver Gilt Sheet Metal Wall Hanging Sculpture Screen MINT

By Curtis Jeré

Located in Rockaway, NJ

Geometrical Patterns Silver Gilt Sheet Metal Wall Hanging Sculpture Screen MINT

Category

20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Leonard Nelson Furniture

Materials

Sheet Metal

Geometrical Patterns Silver Gilt Sheet Metal Wall Hanging Sculpture Screen MINT

H 48 in W 20 in D 1 in

Previously Available Items

Untitled Color-Field Oil on Canvas by Leonard Nelson, 1979

By Leonard Nelson

Located in North Miami, FL

Rich in color, tonalities, and texture - a luminous colorfield painting by Leonard Nelson (American, 1912-1993). Signed "L. Nelson '79". In the Rizzoli monograph "Leonard Nelson - A ...

Category