Ellsworth Kelly

Born 1923

 American Minimalist Painter

As a young boy in New Jersey, Ellsworth’s

grandfather taught him to love bird watching.

He became interested in the artist John James Audubon who was famous for his

bird paintings. 

Do you know what kind of bird this is?

Ellsworth noticed that most birds were only 2 or 3 colors.

How many colors do you see?

This is our state bird, the cardinal.

How many colors do you see?

As a young man he served in the military where he saw lots of camouflage.

These are paintings he created after leaving the army.

Colors for a Large Wall, 1951

Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance II 1951

Spectrum Colors Arranged by Chance VI

(1951)

“I noticed that the large windows between the paintings in the

museum interested me more than the art. From then on, painting as I had known it was finished for me.”

--Ellsworth Kelly

Kelly said, "I decided what I didn't want in a painting, and just kept throwing things out - like

marks and lines."

This idea of using just a few colors or shapes to make art is called

minimalism.

He began making paintings that looked more like the windows than the art.

He was one of the first artists to make paintings that had unusual shapes.

Here are 2 more of his “shaped” paintings.

Do they remind you of birds?

Ellsworth painted many paintings that were only 2 or 3 colors.

Ellsworth Kelly lives in New York where he still creates art today.