Larry BellPatriots Thronec. 1989
c. 1989
About the Item
- Creator:Larry Bell (1939, American)
- Creation Year:c. 1989
- Dimensions:Height: 63 in (160.02 cm)Width: 41.5 in (105.41 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Palm Desert, CA
- Reference Number:
Larry Bell
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.
Find original Larry Bell art on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Jackson, WY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Space SignalsBy Dorothy HoodLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Space Signals" is an oil on canvas painting by Dorothy Hood, made in the 1970s. The artwork size is 89 3/4 x 70 inches. When Dorothy Hood returned to Houston in 1962, to her delig...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- UntitledBy Raymond ParkerLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Untitled" is an oil on canvas painting made by Ray Parker in 1965. The piece is signed verso, "R. Parker, 30 x 24, 1965". The art size is 30 1/8 x 23 1/4 inches. The framed size is ...Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- UntitledBy Hans HofmannLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Untitled" is an oil on canvas painting made by Hans Hofmann in 1962. The artwork size is 25 x 30 1/4 inches. The framed size is 33 1/4 x 38 1/4 x 2 inches. The painting is signed lo...Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- The CrossBy Alexander CalderLocated in Palm Desert, CA"The Cross" is a painting by Alexander Calder. The painting is signed in the lower right, "Calder". The framed dimensions are 30 x 37.5 x 1.75 in. "The Cross...Category
1940s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Tough Homage to Arshile GorkyBy Dorothy HoodLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Tough Homage to Arshile Gorky" is an oil on canvas painting by Dorothy Hood. The artwork size is 89 3/4 x 50 inches. The framed size is 90 3/8 x 50 5/8 x 2 1/2 inches. The piece is ...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Black VesselBy Dorothy HoodLocated in Palm Desert, CA"Black Vessel" is an oil on canvas painting made by Dorothy Hood circa 1970-1980. The artwork size is 70 1/8 x 60 1/8 x 1 1/4 inches. At the core of Dorothy Hood's life and art is h...Category
Late 20th Century Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsCanvas, Oil
- Kyle Andrew Szpyrka - Unity 3-6, Painting 2021By Kyle Andrew SzpyrkaLocated in Greenwich, CTThe Unity series is best described by a short story found in the introduction to author Don Miguel Ruiz’s book The Four Agreements. Three thousand years ago there was a [man] just...Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Kyle Andrew Szpyrka - Unity 3-7, Painting 2021By Kyle Andrew SzpyrkaLocated in Greenwich, CTSacred geometry is the tool that I use most in the Unity series to explore our relationship to the Divine and to the power and process of creation. Sacred geometry can be seen almo...Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsGold Leaf
- Kyle Andrew Szpyrka - Unity 3-3, Painting 2021By Kyle Andrew SzpyrkaLocated in Greenwich, CTWe are all connected. Another focus of the Unity series is taking all of the information, all of the breakthrough moments of understanding and awareness on the path of self-discover...Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings
MaterialsGold Leaf
- HavanaBy Margaret KennedyLocated in New York, NYSigned and dated by artist on versoCategory
2010s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Paintings
MaterialsFoil
- UntitledBy Osvaldo MariscottiLocated in New York, NY2015 Oil and enamel on canvas 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm) Signed and dated, versoCategory
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsEnamel
- SynergyBy Osvaldo MariscottiLocated in New York, NY2013 Oil and enamel on canvas 48 x 48 in. (121.9 x 121.9 cm) Signed and dated, versoCategory
2010s Abstract Abstract Paintings
MaterialsEnamel
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Penelope Gottlieb’s Comic-Style Painting Is a Requiem for a Vanished Flower
This piece may look like Pop art fun, but embedded within is a message of a planet on the brink.
10 Reasons Art Collectors Are Obsessed with Andy Warhol
More than three decades after his death, the prolific Pop artist and cultural icon's body of work continues to captivate. Here's a primer of some of his most notable motifs and mediums.