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Larry Bell Abstract Prints

American, b. 1939

The legendary Los Angeles art scene of the 1960s produced many spectacular visual artists, such as Ed Moses, Billy Al Bengston and James Turrell. Painter and sculptor Larry Bell is arguably among the most influential of the era’s marquee names. A quintessential contemporary abstract artist, Bell explored light with glass sculptures that are difficult to categorize, while his abstract prints are a meditation on color. Whether working in two or three dimensions, Bell's artistic intuition always leads the way.

Bell was born in 1939 in Chicago and grew up in California. From 1957 to 1959, he attended the Los Angeles Chouinard Art Institute where he created monochromatic abstract oil paintings that drew on Abstract Expressionism. Soon, he began incorporating mirrors and glass in his designs, which eventually evolved into provocative sculptural works.

During the mid-1960s, Bell developed his signature technique of modifying how light moves through and is reflected in his sculptures. Working with glass cubes he built, Bell used an industrial process that sees vaporized metals becoming thin plastic films to be added to the works’ interior panels. He essentially turned his transparent boxes into tapestries of diffuse color. Bell showed his cubes at a solo exhibition at Pace Gallery in New York City in 1965. The show was a huge success, selling out on its first day.

Bell continued experimenting with new methods and techniques, shifting his focus to larger and more monumental works in the late 1960s. In the 1970s, he developed adjustable glass sculptures with as many as fifty-six panels. He also dabbled in bronze sculpture and furniture design.

Throughout his career, Bell has exhibited widely, with shows at the Museum of Contemporary Art and Norton Simon Museum in California, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Denver Art Museum, Carré d'Art-Musée d'art contemporain de Nîmes in France and Tate Britain, among many others.

In 2019, gallerist Peter Blake held a show celebrating West Coast minimalism, including the work of Bell as a respected and influential veteran in the space. Later, in 2022, Hauser & Wirth gallery in Los Angeles held a joint exhibition featuring the work of Bell and artist John Chamberlain. The two artists were lifelong friends who met in the 1960s Los Angeles art scene. In a sense, the show brought Bell back full circle.

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Artist: Larry Bell
Larry Bell - Tony Shafrazi Gallery invitation (hand signed by Larry Bell) Framed
Larry Bell - Tony Shafrazi Gallery invitation (hand signed by Larry Bell) Framed

Larry Bell - Tony Shafrazi Gallery invitation (hand signed by Larry Bell) Framed

By Larry Bell

Located in New York, NY

Rare vintage offset lithograph invitation to the exhibition: Larry Bell at Tony Shafrazi, 130 Prince Street, SoHo New York, February 16 – March 23, 1991 The card has been boldly sign...

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1990s Abstract Larry Bell Abstract Prints

Materials

Lithograph, Offset

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In 1943, the writer George Limbour, a friend of Dubuffet from childhood, took Jean Paulhan to the artist's studio. Dubuffet's work at that time was unknown. Paulhan was impressed and the meeting proved to be a turning point for Dubuffet. His first solo show came in October 1944, at the Galerie Rene Drouin in Paris. This marked Dubuffet's third attempt to become an established artist In 1945, Dubuffet attended and was strongly impressed by a show in Paris of Jean Fautrier paintings in which he recognized meaningful art which expressed directly and purely the depth of a person. Emulating Fautrier, Dubuffet started to use thick oil paint mixed with materials such as mud, sand, coal dust, pebbles, pieces of glass, string, straw, plaster, gravel, cement, and tar. This allowed him to abandon the traditional method of applying oil paint to canvas with a brush; instead, Dubuffet created a paste into which he could create physical marks, such as scratches and slash marks. 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Larry Bell abstract prints for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Larry Bell abstract prints available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Larry Bell in aquatint, etching, lithograph and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1980s and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Larry Bell abstract prints, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of James Siena, Georg Karl Pfahler, and Michael Wallner. Larry Bell abstract prints prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,000 and tops out at $2,800, while the average work can sell for $2,800.
Questions About Larry Bell Abstract Prints
  • 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022
    Larry Bell is a sculpture and installation artist born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 6, 1939. He is especially known for producing large illusionist works out of clear and colored glass. You'll find a collection of Larry Bell art on 1stDibs.