al newbill
Abstract Expressionist Al Newbill was raised in Detroit, where he attended the prestigious magnet school Cass Technical High School, and took classes at the Detroit Institute of Arts Museum. After serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, Newbill headed for New York where he studied at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Hans Hofmann School of Fine Art, and the New School of Social Research.
In 1957, Newbill showed at the New York Artists’ 6th Annual Exhibition alongside contemporaries Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Hans Hofmann. Two years later, Newbill exhibited at Leo Castelli gallery in New York City, in the same year that the famed gallery also showed Robert Rauschenberg and Frank Stella.
After fifteen years in New York City, Newbill turned to teaching, taking various positions around the United States, including those at Cornell University and University of California, Berkley. Eventually, Newbill settled down in Ohio, taking a position at Ohio State University in Mansfield until his retirement in 1976. Sadly, Mr. Newbill recently passed away at the age of 91.