Ad Reinhardt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ad Reinhardt
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Portrait of the artist at work.
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| Born | December 24, 1913 |
| Died | August 30, 1967 (aged 53) New York City, US
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| Alma mater | Columbia University |
| Known for | Abstract painting |
| Movement | Abstract Expressionism |
Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt (born December 24, 1913 – died August 30, 1967) was an important abstract painter in New York City. He was active for over 30 years.
Reinhardt was a member of the American Abstract Artists group. He was also part of a famous art movement called Abstract Expressionism. This movement was often linked to the Betty Parsons Gallery. He also belonged to The Club, a meeting place for abstract expressionist artists in the 1940s and 1950s.
Ad Reinhardt wrote and lectured a lot about art. He greatly influenced conceptual art, minimal art, and monochrome painting. He is most famous for his "black" paintings. He called these his "ultimate" paintings. He believed he was painting the "last paintings" anyone could create. He had a strong belief about art called Art-as-Art. He used his writing and funny cartoons to support abstract art. He also spoke out against what he saw as bad practices by other artists.
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Ad Reinhardt's Early Life and Education
Ad Reinhardt was born in Buffalo, New York. He grew up with his family near the Niagara River. He was very close to his cousin Otto and his extended family. Later, his father's job moved the family to New York City.
Reinhardt studied art history at Columbia College of Columbia University. There, he became good friends with Robert Lax and Thomas Merton. All three friends developed similar ideas about simplicity, but in different ways. Ad Reinhardt knew he wanted to be a painter from a young age. He even won painting prizes in grade school and high school.
He felt he had learned all the painting skills he needed in high school. So, he turned down art school scholarships. Instead, he accepted a full scholarship to Columbia University. He attended Columbia from 1931 to 1935. At Columbia, Reinhardt studied with the art historian Meyer Schapiro. He also took painting classes at Columbia's Teachers College. After graduating, he continued to study painting. He learned from Carl Holty and Francis Criss at the American Artists School. At the same time, he studied portrait painting at the National Academy of Design.
Becoming a Professional Artist
After college, Ad Reinhardt was recognized as a painter by Burgoyne Diller. This allowed him to work for the WPA Federal Art Project. He worked there from 1936 to 1940. This project helped artists find work during the Great Depression.
His friend Carl Holty helped him join the American Abstract Artists group. He showed his art with this group for ten years. Reinhardt said joining this group was "one of the greatest things that ever happened to me." He also showed his work in group exhibitions at the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery. His first solo art show was at the Artists Gallery in 1943.
Later, Betty Parsons became his art dealer. He first exhibited at the Wakefield Bookshop and the Mortimer Brandt Gallery. Then, Betty Parsons opened her own gallery on 57th Street. Reinhardt had solo exhibitions there every year starting in 1946.
He was involved in a protest against the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in 1940. He designed a leaflet that asked, How modern is the Museum of Modern Art? His art was often shown at the Annual Exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art in the 1940s and 1950s. He also joined a protest against the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1950. This group of artists became known as "The Irascibles."
After finishing his studies at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, Reinhardt became a teacher. He taught at Brooklyn College starting in 1947. He taught there until he passed away from a heart attack in 1967. He also taught at other schools. These included the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the University of Wyoming, Yale University, and Hunter College, New York.
Ad Reinhardt's Artworks
His Unique Paintings
Reinhardt's earliest paintings did not show real objects. They gradually moved away from anything recognizable. His art changed over time. In the 1940s, he painted compositions of geometric shapes. In the 1950s, he created works using different shades of the same color. These were all red, all blue, or all white.
Reinhardt is most famous for his "black" paintings from the 1960s. At first glance, these paintings look like simple black canvases. But they are actually made of many different shades of black and very dark colors. These paintings make viewers think about what "absolute" means. They also make us wonder if black can truly be considered a color.
In 1967, he contributed a print to a special collection. This collection was called Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam. His print was a lithograph known as "No War." It looked like an airmail postcard addressed to "War Chief, Washington, D.C. U.S.A." It listed 34 demands, such as "no napalm," "no bombing," and "no poverty." It also included messages about art itself, like "no art in war."
His Writings and Cartoons
Ad Reinhardt also wrote a lot about his own art and the art of others. His writing was clever and focused. It is still interesting to read even if you haven't seen his paintings. Like his art, his writings can still cause discussion today. Many of his writings are collected in a book called Art as Art.
Reinhardt also worked as a graphic artist. He joined the staff of PM, a daily newspaper, in 1942. He worked there full-time until 1947, except for time spent in the U.S. Navy. While at PM, he created thousands of cartoons and illustrations. His most famous series was How to Look at Art.
He also illustrated a very important pamphlet called Races of Mankind (1943). This pamphlet was first meant for the U.S. Army. But it was banned and then sold almost a million copies to the public. He also illustrated a children's book called A Good Man and His Good Wife. When he was at Columbia University, he designed many covers and illustrations for the humor magazine Jester. He was the editor of Jester in his senior year. He also did other commercial art for various clients.
Recent Exhibitions of Ad Reinhardt's Work
- The Guggenheim Museum showed Reinhardt's Black Painting. It was part of their Imageless exhibition, which ended in September 2008.
- The Josef Albers Museum Quadrat in Bottrop, Germany, displayed Reinhardt's Last Paintings and earlier works. They were shown alongside works by Josef Albers. This exhibition ran from September 2010 to January 2011. Both artists had worked at Yale University in 1952-1953.
- In the fall of 2013, David Zwirner Gallery held a major exhibition. It featured Reinhardt's black paintings, cartoons, and photographs. This was the first time since 1991 that an entire room of his black paintings (13 in total) was shown.
- Art vs. History was the first large exhibition in Europe focusing on Reinhardt's cartoons and collages. It was shown in Malmö Konsthall in 2015 and in EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art in 2016.
See also
In Spanish: Ad Reinhardt para niños
