Ronnie Landfield: Architect of Abstract Color
An in-depth exploration of the life, work, and enduring influence of a pivotal figure in American abstract painting.
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About Ronnie Landfield
Abstract Painter
Ronnie Landfield, born January 9, 1947, is a distinguished American abstract painter. His early career, spanning the mid-1960s through the 1970s, saw his work associated with movements such as Lyrical Abstraction, Postminimalism, Color Field painting, and Abstract Expressionism. He gained significant recognition through exhibitions at prominent galleries like the David Whitney Gallery and the Andrรฉ Emmerich Gallery.
Critical Acclaim
Landfield is celebrated for his abstract landscape paintings, characterized by their vibrant color palettes and dynamic compositions. Throughout his extensive career, he has held over seventy solo exhibitions and participated in more than two hundred group exhibitions. In 2011, he was described by LewAllen Gallerie as being "at the forefront of contemporary art...one of the best painters in America."
Artistic Journey
Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Landfield's artistic development was shaped by his engagement with the vibrant New York art scene of the 1960s. His education included studies at the Art Students League of New York, Kansas City Art Institute, and San Francisco Art Institute, providing a robust foundation for his exploration of abstract art.
Artistic Movements
Lyrical Abstraction
Landfield is recognized as a key figure in the Lyrical Abstraction movement, which emerged in the late 1960s as a departure from the perceived austerity of Minimalism and Hard-edge painting. This movement emphasized sensuous color, romantic themes, and a more expressive, fluid approach to abstraction.
Postminimalism & Color Field
His work also aligns with Postminimalism, exploring less rigid forms and incorporating more emotional or subjective content than strict Minimalism. Concurrently, his mastery of color places him firmly within the tradition of Color Field painting, where large areas of flat color are used to create visual impact and emotional resonance.
Abstract Expressionism Roots
While developing his distinct style, Landfield's early work showed influences from Abstract Expressionism, particularly in its scale and bold application of paint. However, he evolved beyond its gestural intensity towards a more structured yet deeply chromatic abstract language.
Career Trajectory
Early Career (1960s)
Landfield began exhibiting in Manhattan in 1962. After studies and travels, he returned to New York in 1965, experimenting with Minimal Art, sculpture, and hard-edge geometric painting. His "border paintings" series, completed in 1966, garnered early attention, with works acquired by notable collectors and institutions. By 1970, he was acknowledged for leading a shift towards more lyrical and vibrant abstractions.
Mid Period (1973-1993)
This period saw Landfield travel extensively, particularly in the Southwest, producing numerous paintings inspired by the landscape. He taught Fine Arts at the School of Visual Arts from 1975 to 1990. His works were featured in prestigious venues, including installations at the Four Seasons Restaurant and exhibitions across major cities nationally and internationally.
Recent Work (1994-Present)
Landfield continued his active engagement with the art world, curating exhibitions, teaching at the Art Students League of New York, and exhibiting his work. A significant retrospective, "Ronnie Landfield: Paintings From Five Decades," was held at the Butler Institute of American Art in 2007. His home and studio were affected by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, leading to participation in post-storm exhibitions.
Notable Works
Garden of Delight (1971)
This significant work, measuring 87x72 inches, was exhibited at the David Whitney Gallery and later installed at the Four Seasons Restaurant for an extended period. It is part of the collection of Philip Johnson, later re-acquired by the artist.
Diamond Lake (1969)
An expansive painting (108 x 168 inches), "Diamond Lake" was acquired by The Museum of Modern Art from Philip Johnson and was notably displayed in MoMA's lobby. It exemplifies Landfield's early engagement with large-scale abstract landscapes.
Portal To Paradise (1982)
This significant piece, measuring 107 x 78 inches, is held in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, underscoring Landfield's impact and recognition within major art institutions.
Rite of Spring (1985)
Measuring 79x112 inches, this painting was exhibited at The Brunnier Museum in 1988, showcasing Landfield's continued exploration of dynamic compositions and evocative titles.
The Deluge (1999)
This large-scale work (108x120 inches) was exhibited at Salander/O'Reilly Galleries in 2000, representing Landfield's output from the later part of his career, demonstrating sustained artistic practice.
Museum Collections
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Museum of Modern Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Brooklyn Museum
The National Gallery of Art
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Norton Simon Museum
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Walker Art Center
The Seattle Art Museum
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art
Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute
Des Moines Art Center
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Sheldon Museum of Art
Butler Institute of American Art
Grey Art Museum, New York University
Hunter College
Art Gallery of Ontario
Allen Memorial Art Museum
Delaware Art Museum
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University
Boca Raton Museum of Art
Federal Reserve Board
Yale University Art Gallery
Bayerische Staatsgemaldesammlungen, Munich
CASA CAVAZZINI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Udine
Mississippi Museum of Art
Boise Art Museum
Frost Art Museum
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Smith College Museum of Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
New Orleans Museum of Art
University of Michigan Museum of Art
Silverstein Properties, New York
University Museum, Southern Illinois University
Indianapolis Museum of Art
Cedar Rapids Museum of Art
Portland Museum of Art, Maine
Portland Art Museum, Oregon
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
New Britain Museum of American Art
University of New Mexico Art Museum
Greenville County Museum of Art
Spencer Museum of Art
Kemper Art Museum
Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art
Art Museum of South Texas
Ringling Museum of Art
Robert Hull Fleming Museum
Akron Art Museum
Palm Springs Desert Museum
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Detroit Institute of Arts
Awards & Recognition
Academic & Foundation Grants
Landfield has received significant recognition through various grants and awards, reflecting the sustained quality and impact of his artistic contributions.
- Gold Medal for Painting, San Francisco Art Institute (1965)
- William and Noma Copley Grant (Cassandra Foundation) (1969)
- National Endowment of the Arts Grant (1983)
- Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (1995, 2001)
- Pollock-Krasner Foundation Emergency Grant (2013)
- Artist Fellowship Grant (2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2012)
- Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Grant (2012)
- Joan Mitchell Foundation Emergency Grant (2012)
- New York Foundation for the Arts Emergency Grant (2012)
References & Bibliography
Source Material
The content presented here is derived from publicly available information, primarily the Wikipedia article on Ronnie Landfield and its cited sources. The following details the references and bibliography used:
- LewAllen Galleries, "Ronnie Landfield", 2011.
- Osterweil, Ara, "Ronnie Landfield", Artforum, January 1, 2020.
- Exhibition Catalogue, *Ronnie Landfield: Paintings From Five Decades*, The Butler Institute of American Art, ISBN 1-882790-50-2.
- "Bowery Artist Tribute". Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine.
- Exhibition Catalogue, *Ronnie Landfield: Paintings From Five Decades*, The Butler Institute of American Art, "Seeking the Miraculous", ISBN 1-882790-50-2.
- Sewall-Ruskin, Yvonne, *High on Rebellion: Inside the Underground at Max's Kansas City*, Thunder's Mouth Press NYC, 1998.
- Aldrich, Larry, *Lyrical Abstraction*, Exhibition Catalogue, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 1970.
- *Lyrical Abstraction*, Exhibition Catalogue, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, 1971.
- Exhibition Catalogue, *Ronnie Landfield: Paintings From Five Decades*, The Butler Institute of American Art, ISBN 1-882790-50-2.
- "Ronnie Landfield. Diamond Lake. 1969 | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art.
- "About the Collection". Norton Simon Museum.
- Walker Art Center.
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
- "Ronnie Landfield - From Portal to Paradise". The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- "Repository of Abstract Art, Modern Paintings, and Sculpture". www.abstract-art.com.
- "eric gelber on ronnie landfield and peter reginato at heidi cho". Archived from the original on 2021-04-17. Retrieved 2007-08-24.
- Art in America, Annual 2007-2008, Museums, Galleries, Artists Guide, 2007-2008 Museum preview p.36.
- The Hudson Review, 60th anniversary edition, Spring 2008, "At the Galleries," Karen Wilkin, pp172-177.
- "master". Archived from the original on 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
- Noah Landfield.
- Zona, Dr. Louis A. Exhibition Catalogue, *Ronnie Landfield: Paintings From Five Decades*, The Butler Institute of American Art, "Introduction", p. 2, ISBN 1-882790-50-2.
- "American colorist Ronnie Landfield's Structure and Color opens at Stephen Haller Gallery". Archived from the original on 2016-03-07.
- Corwin, William, "Ronnie Landfield: Where it All Began", The Brooklyn Rail, November 2012.
- "NY Times, Liz Harris, Where Rent Is Stabilized, Reopening After Storm Is No Certainty".
- Fabricant, Annie, "Ronnie Landfield, One of America's Greatest Abstract Painters, Gets Swamped", HuffPost, November 20, 2012.
- "artistnetwork, Jerry N. Weiss, After the Deluge: Hurricane Sandy Wreaked Havoc on Artists and Their Work".
- "Frieze Magazine, Will Corwin".
- Artcritical.
- "ARTPULSE MAGAZINE ยป Reviews ยป Come Together: Surviving Sandy".
- "Ronnie Landfield". whitney.org.
- "Two Drawings". Brooklyn Museum.
- "Ronnie Landfield | National Gallery of Art". www.nga.gov.
- "Untitled (For Matisse)". September 12, 1969 โ via Art Institute of Chicago.
- "Red River". art.seattleartmuseum.org.
- "Night Crossing". art.nelson-atkins.org.
- "Vogel 50x50". vogel5050.org.
- "Nocturnal Jupiter". emuseum.desmoinesartcenter.org.
- Sheldon Museum of Art.
- "Cantor Arts Center Login". cantorcollection.stanford.edu.
- "Sammlung | Search". www.sammlung.pinakothek.de.
- "Two Drawings | LACMA Collections". collections.lacma.org.
- "Collections Database". museums.fivecolleges.edu.
- "Untitled - New Orleans Museum of Art". noma.org.
- "Newfields Collection - Search". The Indianapolis Museum of Art Collection.
- "Portland Museum of Art - Home". collections.portlandmuseum.org.
- "Iron Plum". www.portlandartmuseum.us.
- "Collection | RISD Museum". risdmuseum.org.
- "Ringling Museum of Art". Archived from the original on 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
- "Akron Art Museum". Archived from the original on 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
- Detroit Institute of Arts.
- "Ronnie Landfield". Pollock Krasner Foundation.
Bibliography:
- Morgan, Robert C., Zona, Dr. Louis A., Exhibition Catalogue, *Ronnie Landfield: Paintings From Five Decades*, The Butler Institute of American Art, ISBN 1-882790-50-2.
- *Perspectives*, lecture: Ronnie Landfield and Stephen Polcari, January 5, 2006, Art Students League of New York.
- Glueck, Grace, *Color Coded, Ronnie Landfield and Peter Reginato*, The New York Times, Art in Review, November 4, 2005.
- *Do Aesthetics Matter?* Panel Discussion, Art Students League of New York, January 1999.
- Wilkin, Karen, *At the Galleries*, Partisan Review, 1996, #1, pp. 91โ93.
- Monte, Jim, *Seven Painters at Nicholas Alexander*, Art in America, May, 1996, p. 113.
- Karmel, Pepe, *Seven Painters*, New York Times, November 17, 1995, p. C30.
- Landfield, Ronnie, *In The Late Sixties*, 1993โ95, and other writings, abstract-art.com.
- *Cool and Collected or Too Hot to Handle* Panel Discussion, Tenri Cultural Institute, New York, 1994.
- *Cool and Collected or Too Hot To Handle. A Modernist Response to Post-Modernism,* Panel Discussion, New York Studio School, New York, 1994.
- Negroponte, Diane, *Contemporary American Artists*, Exhibition Catalogue, US Embassy, Manila, Philippines, 1994.
- *The Landscape in Twentieth-Century American Art*, Selections from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rizzoli, NY 1991.
- Wilder, Nicholas, *Nicholas Wilder on Ronnie Landfield*, April 1989.
- Messenger, Lisa, *Dialogues in Art*, Exhibition Catalogue, Palazzo Ducale di Gubbio, Italy 1984.
- *1973 Biennial*, Exhibition Catalogue, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, December 1973.
- Prokopoff, Stephen. *Two Generations of Color Painting*, Exhibition Catalogue, Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art, 1971.
- *Lyrical Abstraction*, Exhibition Catalogue, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, 1971.
- *Highlights of the 1969-1970 Season*, Exhibition Catalogue, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield Conn.
- *Annual Exhibition*, Exhibition Catalogue, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, Dec.1969.
- Aldrich, Larry, *Young Lyrical Painters*, Art in America, v.57, n6, NovemberโDecember 1969.
- Junker, Howard, *The New Art: It's Way, Way Out*, Newsweek, July 29, 1968.
- *Annual Exhibition*, Exhibition Catalogue, Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC, Dec.1967.
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References
References
- "Ronnie Landfield". LewAllen Galleries, 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- Walker Art Center
- Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
- Art in America, Annual 2007-2008, Museums, Galleries, Artists Guide, 2007-2008 Museum preview p.36
- The Hudson Review (60th anniversary edition), Spring 2008, At the Galleries, Karen Wilkin, pp172-177.
- Artcritical
- Detroit Institute of Arts
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Important Notice
This page was generated by an Artificial Intelligence and is intended for informational and educational purposes only. The content is based on a snapshot of publicly available data from Wikipedia and may not be entirely accurate, complete, or up-to-date.
This is not professional art critique or historical analysis. The information provided on this website is not a substitute for consulting official museum archives, scholarly art historical research, or seeking advice from qualified art professionals. Always refer to primary sources and consult with experts for in-depth understanding and validation.
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