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Carl HoltyUntitled (Red, Yellow, Blue, Gray), 1971Oil on canvasUnframed: 76 x 62 inches
Framed: 78 1/4 x 64 inches
Inscribed on the reverse by the wife of the artist: This is a painting of my husband Carl Holty 1971 - Elizabeth Holty
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Carl HoltyTwelfth Night (Blue, White), 1962Oil on Canvas70in x 56inSigned Lower Right
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Carl HoltyAbstract, 1959Oil on canvas15 x 23 inches
Framed: 23 1/4 x 31 1/4 inchesSigned: Carl Holty 59’ (l.r.) and Holty (u.l.)
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Carl HoltyFederationOil on canvas16 x 24 inches
Framed: 24 x 32 inchesMarked: Federation (verso)Signed: Holty (l.r.)
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Carl HoltyNorth by Northwest, 1960Oil on canvasUnframed: 66 x 50 inches
Framed: 68 x 52 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltySeparation, 1957Oil on canvasUnframed: 52 x 36 inches
Framed: 53 1/2 x 37 1/2 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyUntitled #1600Oil on canvas68 x 42 inches
Framed: 70 x 44 1/2 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Orange, Gray), Circa 1972Oil on canvas60 x 50 1/2 inches
Framed: 62 x 52 inches
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Carl HoltyCanadian Return, Circa 1966Oil on canvas36 x 52 inches
Framed: 42 3/4 x 59 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyPink, Gray, Circa 1972Oil on canvas66 x 55 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Red, Gray) #5, Circa 1969Oil on canvas60 x 50 inches
Framed: 62 x 52 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Red, Gray) #4, Circa 1969Oil on canvas60 x 50 inches
Framed: 62 1/4 x 52 1/4 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled #4, 1971Oil on canvas66 x 55 inchesSigned lower left: Holty
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Carl HoltyUntitled #54, 1971Oil on canvas34 x 23 inches
Framed: 36 1/4 x 30 inchesSigned, dated, and dedicated on overlap verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Gray, White), 1971Oil on canvas76 x 63 inches
Framed: 78 1/2 x 65 1/2 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled #58 (Red, Purple, White), 1970Oil on canvasUnframed: 40 x 30 inches
Framed: 42 1/4 x 32 inchesSigned lower left: Holty
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Red, Gray) #2, 1969Oil on canvas60 x 50 inches
Framed: 62 1/4 x 52 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Red, Gray) #3, 1969Oil on canvas60 x 50 inches
Framed: 62 x 52 inches
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Carl HoltyGray and Ochre, 1968Oil on canvas66 x 55 inches
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Carl HoltyGray Volume in Red, 1968Oil on canvasUnframed: 66 x 52 1/4 inches
Framed: 67 1/2 x 55 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyDiagonal, 1967Oil on canvas60 x 48 1/4 inches
Framed: 62 x 50 1/4 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyRusset, 1966Oil on canvas66 x 52 inchesSigned lower left: Holty
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Carl HoltyLausanne, 1964Oil on canvas66 x 52 inchesSigned and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyMirage, 1964Oil on canvas60 x 54 inchesSigned, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled #161, 1964Oil on canvas48 x 35 inchesSigned, dated, and dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled #168 (Green, Red), 1964Oil on canvas32 x 18 inches
Framed: 34 x 20 inchesSigned lower left: Holty
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Carl HoltyVise, 1964Oil on canvas60 1/4 x 48 1/2 inches
Framed: 61 x 49 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled, 1963-64Oil on canvas76 x 60 inches
Framed: 78 x 62 1/2 inchesSigned, dated, and dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl HoltyMoving Red, 1963Oil on canvasUnframed: 60 x 46 inches
Framed: 62 x 48 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyRed with Gray Bar, 1963Oil on canvas26 x 14 1/2 inches
Framed: 28 x 16 3/4 inches
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Carl HoltyUntitled #116, 1963Oil on canvas60 x 46 inchesSigned lower left: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl HoltyVertical Red and Gray, 1963Oil on canvas60 x 46 inches
Framed: 62 x 48 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl Holty33,000, 1962Oil on canvasUnframed: 70 x 56 inches
Framed: 72 x 58 inchesSigned lower left: Holty; dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl HoltyBig Zen Red-Eyed Goose, 1962Oil on canvas70 x 56 inches
Framed: 72 x 58 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyTwelfth Night (Red, Gray), 1962Oil on canvasUnframed: 70 x 56 inches
Framed: 72 x 58 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled , 1962Oil on canvas70 x 56 inchesSigned lower left: Holty
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Carl HoltyCienega, 1961Oil on canvas60 x 48 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyPink Sand, 1961Oil on canvas48 x 36 inchesSigned lower right; signed, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltySuspension, 1960Oil on canvas60 x 48 inches
Framed: 61 1/4 x 49 1/4 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Gray, Blue, and Red), 1960Oil on canvasUnframed: 72 x 45 inches
Framed: 74 x 47 inchesSigned lower right: Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl HoltySculpture, 1955Oil on canvas50 x 42 inches
Framed: 53 1/2 x 44 1/2 inchesSigned lower right: Carl Holty; signed, dated, and dedicated verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled #163, 1952Oil on canvas36 x 30 inches
Framed: 38 1/2 x 32 1/2 inchesSigned and dated lower right: Carl Holty '52; signed, dated, and dedicated on stretcher verso
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Carl HoltyUntitled, 1948-49Oil on canvas20 x 24 in.
Framed: 22 x 26 in.Signed lower right
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Carl HoltyAscendingOil on canvas52 x 38 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyDark BlueOil on canvas48 x 35 inchesSigned lower left: Holty
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Carl HoltyDrum RedOil on canvas58 x 44 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyGray Stains with Burnt Sienna BrushworkOil on canvasUnframed: 52 x 48 inches
Framed: 54 x 50 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyShale ShieferOil on canvas41 x 31 inches
Framed: 42 x 32 1/4 inchesSigned lower right: Holty
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Carl HoltyUntitled (Tan, Green, White)Oil on canvasUnframed: 60 x 54 inches
Framed: 62 x 56 inches
Overview
The German-born American Abstractionist Carl Robert Holty became known for his biomorphic abstract forms as well as his geometric abstractions that he painted with a vibrant color palette. Indelibly linked to both the Abstract Expressionist and Geometric Abstractionist art movements, Holty was a major proponent of Modernism in the United States and was a contributory influence to the world of American painting. By the 1960's Holty was creating paintings that were dominated by large color fields rendered with thinly washed fluid areas within subtly toned spaces that revealed the influences of such Abstract Expressionist artists as Morris Louis and Helen Frankenthaler. A student of Hans Hofmann and his color theories of expanding dimensions and exuberant colors in abstractions, Holty created large, soft-edged color forms that were either mixed or floated on chromatic stains, experimenting with the relationship of space and form within a two-dimensional plane. In his own words Holty explained:
"No one had ever talked to me about conceptual drawing, about knowing what I'm looking at from the point of view of my tactile knowledge as well as my visual knowledge. Hofmann did. And the world opened up just like that."
Holty experimented with the relationship of space and form within a two-dimensional plane. His works in many ways can be viewed as a celebration of color. There are no obvious images, only large forms that create a rhythmic movement of subtle, toned-down colors and shapes with differing densities. Such works challenged the American art world to look at art in a bold and new fashion. This advocacy for new and cutting edge kinds of works helped to establish Holty as a leading American abstract painter. Along with his friends Stuart Davis and Vaclav Vytlacil Holty established the ground-breaking group that came to be known as the American Abstract Artists. Throughout his life as an artist, Holty was constantly developing his vision of abstraction. An icon in the annals of American contemporary art, Holty is best remembered for his use of color, shape and form.
Museums and Public Collections
Amon Carter Museum
Archer M Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin
Brooklyn Museum, New York
Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
Carnegie Institute Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Krannert Art Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Milwaukee Art Institute
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Exhibitions
Milwaukee Art Institute, 1933, 1935, 1980
Carnegie Institute, 1946
Whitney Museum of American Art, 1944, 1945
Kootz Gallery, 1945, 1948
New Art Circle, 1944
Nierendorf Gallery, 1938
Audubon Association, 1945
Art Institute of Chicago, 1936, 1939
World's Fair, New York, 1939