Leonard Edmondson, American (1916-2002)

Leonard Edmonson’s abstract forms almost dance off the paper, emerging from vigorous shapes, lines, colors and space. In Figures of Reflection, black and white forms seem to take on the role of figures in a landscape-like space, though nothing is quite identifiable. Edmondson wanted to create what he called “almost remembered” forms and his work from the 1950s until the 1990s explored this goal in paintings, etchings, screenprints, and drawings. Renowned especially for his etching, Edmondson often worked from one plate. He commented that his art was “not art of rebellion but one of discovery and sharing. I have found satisfaction in the spontaneous, often compulsive, act of drawing and painting.”

Born in Sacramento, California, Edmonson graduated with a M.F.A in 1942. He served in the Army in Military Intelligence from 1942 until 1946 and traveled throughout Europe after World War II, where he was heavily influenced by Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinski. Edmondson’s work can be found in collections throughout the world, including the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.