WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Al Held

Al Held

Al Held

1928–2005

WA-00009145

New York, NY, USA

PaintingAbstract ArtAbstract ExpressionismExpressionism

Representation

None documented

15

Institutional Exhibitions

39

Works in Collection

71

Assets Indexed

11

Authority-backed Facts

0

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ1301849

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Contemporary Works from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1989–1990

No image

Abstractions

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1988–1989

No image

Contemporary Works from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987–1988

No image

For 25 Years: Crown Point Press

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987–1988

No image

Drawing since 1940

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1987

No image

Contemporary Works from the Collection

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1986

No image

Large Drawings

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985–1986

No image

Contrasts of Form: Geometric Abstract Art, 1910�1980

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985–1986

No image

Reinstallation of the Contemporary Galleries

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1985

No image

Selections From the Art Lending Service

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981–1982

No image

Recent Acquisitions: Drawings

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1981

No image

Recent Acquisitions: Painting and Sculpture

Museum of Modern Art, New York

1978

Field Verification (6 fields)

6 cross-verified · 0 single-source

NationalityWikidata + Artsy+1· 92%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Gallery Generic· 92%✓
Death yearWikidata + Gallery Generic· 92%✓
BiographyWikipedia + Gallery Generic· 88%✓
DeceasedGallery Generic· 72%✓
LocationGallery Generic· 72%✓

Source Registry (3)

Sothebyshttps://www.sothebys.com/en/artists/al-held
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
White-Cubehttps://whitecube.com/artists
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/2583
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

No biography available for Al Held yet.

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Abstract Art

Medium

Painting

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Museum of Modern ArtNew York Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Canonical record

Artworks (39)

Prime Moments II

Prime Moments II

1999 · Screenprint, acrylic paint and watercolour on paper

image: 529 x 783 mm

Prime Moments I

Prime Moments I

1999 · Screenprint, acrylic paint and watercolour on paper

image: 232 x 866 mm

Prime Moments IV

1999 · Lithograph, screenprint, etching, aquatint, hand-painted

23 5/8 × 50 1/8 in. (60 × 127.3 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Prime Moments V

1999 · Color lithograph, screenprint (hand-painting)

29 1/4 × 42 in. (74.3 × 106.7 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Prime Moments III

1999 · Color lithograph, screenprint, etching, aquatint, acrylic paint, watercolour and pigments (hand-painting) on paper

26 5/8 × 36 9/16 in. (67.7 × 92.8 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

1990 · Ten-paneled accordian-folded screenprint, printed on recto and verso

Composition: 6 15/16 x 90 1/16" (17.6 x 228.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Straits of Malacca

1987 · Etching

plate 36 x 45" (91.5 x 114.3 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

1986 · Etching

composition 23 13/16 x 35 3/4" (60.5 x 90.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

overall (closed): 8 3/4 × 8 3/4 × 3/4" (22.3 × 22.3 × 1.9 cm); composition (each approx.): 5 7/16 × 6 15/16" (13.8 × 17.7 cm); page (each approx.): 8 9/16 × 7 7/8" (21.8 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Duplicate of plate from page 23 (supplementary suite, plate 3) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Duplicate of plate from page 23 (supplementary suite, plate 3) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition (irreg.): 5 1/2 × 7" (13.9 × 17.8 cm); sheet: 7 3/4 × 8 9/16" (19.7 × 21.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 13) from Der Phisosoph (The Philosopher)

Plate (page 13) from Der Phisosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 3/8 × 6 15/16" (13.7 × 17.6 cm); page: 8 9/16 × 7 7/8" (21.8 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Duplicate of plate from page 27 (supplementary suite, plate 4) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Duplicate of plate from page 27 (supplementary suite, plate 4) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 3/8 × 7" (13.7 × 17.8 cm); sheet (irreg.): 7 3/4 × 8 7/16" (19.7 × 21.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 37) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Plate (page 37) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 7/16 × 7" (13.8 × 17.8 cm); page: 8 9/16 × 7 13/16" (21.7 × 19.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 27) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Plate (page 27) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 7/16 × 6 15/16" (13.8 × 17.7 cm); page: 8 9/16 × 7 7/8" (21.8 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Duplicate of plate from page 21 (supplementary suite, plate 2) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Duplicate of plate from page 21 (supplementary suite, plate 2) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 7/16 × 6 15/16" (13.8 × 17.7 cm); sheet: 7 11/16 × 8 7/8" (19.6 × 22.6 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Duplicate of plate from page 37 (supplementary suite, plate 6) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Duplicate of plate from page 37 (supplementary suite, plate 6) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 3/8 × 6 7/8" (13.6 × 17.5 cm); sheet (irreg.): 7 3/4 × 8 7/16" (19.7 × 21.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 23) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Plate (page 23) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 7/16 × 6 15/16" (13.8 × 17.7 cm); page: 8 9/16 × 7 15/16" (21.7 × 20.1 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 21) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Plate (page 21) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 7/16 × 7" (13.8 × 17.8 cm); page: 8 5/8 × 7 7/8" (21.9 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Duplicate of plate from page 13 (supplementary suite, plate 1) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Duplicate of plate from page 13 (supplementary suite, plate 1) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 3/8 × 6 15/16" (13.6 × 17.7 cm); sheet: 7 11/16 × 8 7/16" (19.6 × 21.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Duplicate of plate from page 33 (supplementary suite, plate 5) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Duplicate of plate from page 33 (supplementary suite, plate 5) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 3/8 × 6 15/16" (13.7 × 17.7 cm); sheet (irreg.): 7 5/8 × 8 7/16" (19.4 × 21.5 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Plate (page 33) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

Plate (page 33) from Der Philosoph (The Philosopher)

1983 · Etching from an illustrated book with six etchings and supplementary suite of six etchings

composition: 5 3/8 × 6 15/16" (13.7 × 17.6 cm); page: 8 5/8 × 7 7/8" (21.9 × 20 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Inversion IV

1977 · Synthetic polymer paint on canvas

7' 3/4" x 8' 1/4" (243 x 265 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Mercury Zone III

1975 · Acrylic on canvas

96 in. × 11 ft. 11 in. (243.8 × 363.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Untitled (74-33)

Untitled (74-33)

1974 · Pencil on paper

32 1/2 x 62 1/2" (82.6 x 158.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

View all 39 artworks →

Artwork sources (4)

39 published of 67 catalogued · 53 with image

MoMA
28 publishedof 56 catalogued48 img
The Met
6 published
Art Institute Chicago
3 published3 img
Tate
2 published2 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 2)

2 entries · 1 sources

Prime Moments II
1999 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Prime Moments I
1999 · Tate · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Al Held (Wikipedia)

Wikipedia

Artsy artist portrait

Artsy

Flemish II (Art Institute of Chicago)

Art Institute of Chicago

Relationships

12

Movements4

Abstract Art Abstract Expressionism Expressionism Geometric Abstraction

Collections8

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Museum of Modern Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate Christie's The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Institutional

Representation & Collections

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

Museum of Modern Art

New York, US

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Tate

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

20 lots · 2018–2026

Heritage Auctions

Background

Education

Académie de la Grande Chaumière

Visual Arts · 1953

Art Students League of New York

Visual Arts

Market

Auction History

Range: $10,000 – $312,500

Work	Auction House	Date	Estimate	Hammer Price
Little A	Christie's	Feb 2026	$30,000 – $50,000	$76,200
Untitled	Christie's	Sep 2025	$30,000 – $50,000	$53,340
Morre XVIIII	Christie's	Feb 2025	$7,000 – $10,000	Unsold
Untitled [Three Works]	Christie's	Jul 2024	$10,000 – $15,000	$30,240
Untitled "G"	Christie's	Dec 2023	$50,000 – $70,000	$56,700
AHE.847	Christie's	Jul 2023	$4,000 – $6,000	$18,900
Untitled; D Series No. 6; D Series No. 8 [Three Works]	Christie's	Jul 2023	$10,000 – $15,000	$16,380
Untitled	Christie's	May 2023	$100,000 – $150,000	$138,600
Apus VII	Christie's	May 2023	$10,000 – $15,000	$40,320
Untitled	Christie's	Jul 2022	£7,000 – £10,000	£16,380

Showing 10 of 20 results