In the history of art, Ellsworth Kelly is one of the names that keeps being returned to.
The record lists Ellsworth Kelly as American painter, sculptor, and printmaker (1923-2015).
Ellsworth Kelly was born at Newburgh in 1923. His recorded nationality is United States. He trained at Beaux-Arts de Paris and Pratt Institute.
Twentieth-century art was international, heavily theorised and increasingly conceptual, with the market growing alongside it.
He worked as sculptor, painter and designer.
His recorded movement is minimalism and abstract art.
His best-known work is Stele II. Looking is a skill, and the artists who last are those who taught their audience how to do it.
Recognition followed: Knight of the Legion of Honour (1993), Praemium Imperiale (2000), National Medal of Arts (2013) and The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal (2015).
That the work was made in United States shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Ellsworth Kelly died in 2015, aged 92. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Knight of the Legion of Honour — 1993
- Praemium Imperiale — 2000
- National Medal of Arts — 2013
- The James Smithson Bicentennial Medal — 2015
- Notable work: Stele II
- Movement: Minimalism and abstract art
