Sunrise

Sunset

A 30-second online art project:

Peter Burr, Sunshine Monument

Learn more

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

Skip to main content

Ad Reinhardt
1913–1967

Introduction

Adolph Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York for more than three decades. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA) and part of the movement centered on the Betty Parsons Gallery that became known as abstract expressionism. He was also a member of The Club, the meeting place for the New York School abstract expressionist artists during the 1940s and 1950s. He wrote and lectured extensively on art and was a major influence on conceptual art, minimal art and monochrome painting. Most famous for his "black" or "ultimate" paintings, he claimed to be painting the "last paintings" that anyone can paint. He believed in a philosophy of art he called Art-as-Art and used his writing and satirical cartoons to advocate for abstract art and against what he described as "the disreputable practices of artists-as-artists".

Wikidata identifier

Q345569

View the full Wikipedia entry

Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Accessed March 16, 2024.

Introduction

An abstract painter considered influential in the development of Minimalism. Though a contemporary of the Abstract Expressionists, he rejected biomorphism and developed paintings based on geometry, specifically grids, often using a single color in gradations. His last works were a series of all-black canvases.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, abstract artist, collagist, painter, writer

ULAN identifier

500013982

Names

Ad Reinhardt, Adolph Frederick Reinhardt, Adolph Dietmar Friedrich Reinhardt, Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt, Adolph F. Reinhardt, Adolph Frederick. Reinhardt

View the full Getty record

Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed March 16, 2024.



Have feedback about the Whitney's online collection? Send us a message.