Cheim & Read
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • About
Menu

Al Held: 1928-2005

Al Held 1928-2005

  • Biography
  • Works
  • Exhibitions
  • Publications
  • News
  • Biography
    Al Held

    Al Held was born in Brooklyn in 1928. After dropping out of high school, he joined the Navy and served from 1945 to 1947. The following year, he attended the Art Students League in New York, and between 1951 and 1953 he studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris under the GI Bill. His first solo show took place at the Galerie Huit in Paris in 1952. Upon returning to New York, he became one of the founding members of the cooperative Brata Gallery and participated in events at The Club, the meeting place of the Abstract Expressionists. 

    His first solo exhibition in New York was at the Poindexter Gallery in 1960; his work has been exhibited widely in the United States and Canada, Latin America, and Europe, including one-person shows at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; the San Francisco Museum of Art; the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. In 1963 he became a Visiting Professor at Yale University and taught there until 1980. He died in Camerata di Todi, Italy, in 2005 at the age of 76.

    Held’s work is represented in dozens of public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and Whitney Museum of American Art, all in New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; Art Institute of Chicago; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Detroit Institute of Arts; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Tate Gallery, London; Kunsthaus, Zürich; Kunstmuseum, Basel; and Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf.

  • Works
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
    • Al Held
  • Exhibitions
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      29 Nov - 3 Dec 2022
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach 2022 with a presentation of works by Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Ron...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      30 Nov - 14 Feb 2021
      Cheim & Read is delighted to particiapte in this year's Art Basel Miami Beach with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William Eggleston, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
      Read more
    • In Honor of the New MoMA

      In Honor of the New MoMA

      21 Nov 2019 - 20 Feb 2020
      In October 2019, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, reopened its doors after a significant renovation that included a complete overhaul to the presentation of its permanent collection. In...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      6 - 9 Dec 2018
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2018 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
      Read more
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Paris to New York 1952–1959 17 May - 6 Jul 2018
      Cheim & Read and Nathalie Karg Gallery are pleased to present Al Held: Paris to New York, 1952−1959 , an exhibition of experimental works in pigment and wax that anticipate...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      7 - 10 Dec 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2017 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Adam Fuss,...
      Read more
    • The Horizontal

      The Horizontal

      6 Jul - 31 Aug 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce The Horizontal, a group exhibition exploring the poetics of the horizon in abstract art. The show will feature an intergenerational selection of 21...
      Read more
    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      15 - 18 Jun 2017
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2017 edition of Art Basel with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Ron Gorchov, Al Held,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      1 - 4 Dec 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2016 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presenation of works by Ghada Amer, Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois,...
      Read more
    • Frieze New York

      Frieze New York

      5 - 8 May 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in Frieze New York with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman, Adam Fuss, Ron...
      Read more
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Black and White Paintings 18 Feb - 26 Mar 2016
      Cheim & Read is pleased to present eight monumental black and white paintings, dating from 1967 to 1969, Al Held (1928–2005). An exhibition of Held’s “Alphabet Paintings,” made between 1961...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      3 - 6 Dec 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2015 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presenation of works by Donald Baechler, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William Eggleston,...
      Read more
    • Art Basel

      Art Basel

      18 - 21 Jun 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2015 edition of Art Basel with a presenation of works by Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Al Held, Jenny Holzer, Joan Mitchell,...
      Read more
    • Al Held: Armatures 1953-1954

      Al Held: Armatures 1953-1954

      ADAA: The Art Show 4 - 8 Mar 2015
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of six large-scale paintings on paper by Al Held, dating from 1953–54, and shown for the first time in public in...
      Read more
    • Art Basel Miami Beach

      Art Basel Miami Beach

      4 - 7 Dec 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in the 2014 edition of Art Basel Miami Beach with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, Louise Fishman,...
      Read more
    • Frieze Masters

      Frieze Masters

      15 - 19 Oct 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to make a special presention of William Eggleston’s Troubled Waters portfolio at Frieze Masters. The portfolio is comprised of 15 dye-transfer prints published in 1980...
      Read more
    • Frieze New York

      Frieze New York

      9 - 12 May 2014
      Cheim & Read is pleased to participate in Frieze New York with a presentation of works by Ghada Amer, Lynda Benglis, Louise Bourgeois, William Eggleston, Louise Fishman, Adam Fuss, Al...
      Read more
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967 28 Feb - 20 Apr 2013
      Cheim & Read is pleased to announce an exhibition of seven monumental paintings, dating from 1961–67, by New York painter Al Held (1928–2005). Curated from several private collections, the show...
      Read more
  • Publications
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Paris to New York 1952-1959 2018 Read more
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Black and White Paintings 1967-1969 2016 Read more
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Armatures 1953-1954 2015 Read more
    • Al Held

      Al Held

      Alphabet Paintings 2013 Read more
  • News
    • The Horizontal

      The Horizontal

      Cheim & Read July 21, 2017 Read more
    • Little-Seen Works From an Artist Who Influenced Stella and Kelly

      Little-Seen Works From an Artist Who Influenced Stella and Kelly

      May 2, 2016 Read more
    • Al Held: The Conversant Artist

      Al Held: The Conversant Artist

      March 4, 2016 Read more
    • Al Held: Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967

      Al Held: Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967

      Cheim & Read April 8, 2013 Read more
    • Al Held: Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967

      Al Held: Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967

      Cheim & Read March 22, 2013 Read more
    • Al Held: Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967

      Al Held: Alphabet Paintings 1961–1967

      Cheim & Read March 18, 2013 Read more
    • The Big "A"

      The Big "A"

      October 1, 2005 Read more
    • Requiems for a Lost Future?

      Requiems for a Lost Future?

      June 1, 2003 Read more
    • Big H

      Big H

      March 1, 1968 Read more
    • New spatial experiences

      New spatial experiences

      November 1, 1964 Read more
    • Al Held Paints A Picture

      Al Held Paints A Picture

      May 1, 1964 Read more

547 West 25 Street
New York NY 10001

+1 (212) 242-7727
gallery@cheimread.com

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Manage cookies
© 2025 Cheim & Read
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences