Leland Bell

Leland Bell (September 17, 1922 – September 18, 1991) was an American painter.

Leland Bell was a self-taught painter whose passion for the discipline of painting has inspired and influenced many. He was also a fierce advocate for artists that he admired. In the early years of his career these included Karl Knaths, Jean Arp, and Piet Mondrian. In these early years he worked as a guard at the Museum of Non-Objective Art.^[1] In the mid-1940s his allegiance to abstract painting receded after he formed a friendship with Jean Hélion, and Bell subsequently became a champion of Hélion, Fernand Léger, Balthus, Alberto Giacometti, and André Derain.^[2][3] Bell was also a jazz aficionado and drummer.^[4]

In 1944 he married the painter Louisa Matthíasdóttir (1917–2000), whose figurative style influenced his work.^[5] In contrast to Matthíasdóttir, who worked quickly, Bell labored over his paintings, sometimes for years.^[5] The couple had a daughter, Temma, in 1945. The family divided their time between New York and Matthíasdóttir's native Iceland.

Bell was active as a painter, teacher, and lecturer. In 1987, he had a retrospective exhibition at the

Family