Leland Bell

Leland Bell (September 17, 1922 – September 18, 1991) was an American painter.

Leland Bell was a self-taught painter whose passion for the discipline of painting has inspired and influenced many. He was also a fierce advocate for artists that he admired. In the early years of his career these included Karl Knaths, Jean Arp, and Piet Mondrian. In these early years he worked as a guard at the Museum of Non-Objective Art.[1] In the mid-1940s his allegiance to abstract painting receded after he formed a friendship with Jean Hélion, and Bell subsequently became a champion of Hélion, Fernand Léger, Balthus, Alberto Giacometti, and André Derain.[2][3] Bell was also a jazz aficionado and drummer.[4]

In 1944 he married the painter Louisa Matthíasdóttir (1917–2000), whose figurative style influenced his work.[5] In contrast to Matthíasdóttir, who worked quickly, Bell labored over his paintings, sometimes for years.[5] The couple had a daughter, Temma, in 1945. The family divided their time between New York and Matthíasdóttir's native Iceland.

Bell was active as a painter, teacher, and lecturer. In 1987, he had a retrospective exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. He was diagnosed with leukemia in the 1980s, and died September 18, 1991.[6]

References
  1. Webber, N. F. (1986). Leland Bell. Hudson Hills Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-933920-34-7
  2. Sarah Kennedy. "Zac Posen Will Design For Delta Airlines - Observer". Observer.
  3. Perl, Jed, ed. (1999). Louisa Matthiasdottir. New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 60. ISBN 1-55595-197-X
  4. Perl, Jed, ed. (1999). Louisa Matthiasdottir. New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 56. ISBN 1-55595-197-X
  5. Perl, Jed, ed. (1999). Louisa Matthiasdottir. New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 68. ISBN 1-55595-197-X
  6. Perl, Jed, ed. (1999). Louisa Matthiasdottir. New York: Hudson Hills Press. p. 178. ISBN 1-55595-197-X
Family
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