Artist Name:
Al Held
Nationality & Life Dates:
American, 1928-2005
Title:
Flemish IX
Date:
1974
Medium:
Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions:
72 x 60 inches
Credit Line:
Purchase with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts and Edith G. and Philip A. Rhodes
Accession Number:
1979.134
Copyright:
© Al Held Foundation / Licensed by VAGA, New York
On View - Stent Family Wing, Skyway Level, Gallery 404
The title Flemish IX refers to Al Held’s fascination with early Flemish painting, especially that of Jan van Eyck, with its sharp focus realism, precision, and construction of coherent spaces drawn in perspective. Held creates a contradictory structure by projecting geometric solids from several different vantage points, with multiple foci and ambiguous spatial relationships. In Held’s words, “a dozen absolute truths exist in the same space and time.”