Leonard Nelson Gallery

These two paintings by Leonard Nelson show his long and steadfast pursuit of the vision inside his head that is today called the "Perceptual." They show a linear evolution uninterrupted by trends, fashion, or popularity. Stunning! Brent Left: ... Untitled, by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 32 x 36 in Oil on canvas Circa 1950 Right: Untitled by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 46 x 50 in Oil on canvas 1988-1989

Call for Fair Opportunity This year has confirmed my long held belief that the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) engaged in a conspiracy to award Leonard Nelson’s original art to a known fraud painter, Warren Rohrer, overtop the wishes of its own curators. Deeper is the realization that Nelson’s achievements weren’t just copied in Philadelphia. They’re painted today across the planet, led by Damien Hirst. A much larger picture of Leonard Nelson has now emerged. He likely di...scovered the most transmissible painting style since Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Its "rootedness" in landscape, but not directly, and luminous colors, ushered in the next painting aesthetic past abstract expressionism, i.e., the perceptual. It is what we’ve been waiting for. http://leonardnelson.com/essay1.html To my PMA-linked detractors: it’s time to climb down off your white horses. Philadelphia is home to a pathbreaking painter (Sam Hunter, 2000) whose art is still resonating nearly 30 years after his death (1993). Rather than continue promoting Rohrer’s lies to uphold the late Daniel Dietrich’s contrived art legacy, join me in my efforts to gain Nelson credit in the upcoming exhibitions of Rohrer and his widow Jane’s poetry (Woodmere Art Museum and Palmer Museum). Give fair opportunity in art a chance. R. Brent Byrne https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSbnxp6nMf0

Modern Barnes Fomented in Philly Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko weren’t the only dead-end painters to show at the Betty Parsons gallery in the late 1940s; dead-end meaning their painting styles are theirs forever. Philadelphia painter Leonard Nelson was there, too. His aesthetic took the long road. He wouldn’t breakout into his "dead-end" painting style until 1974 (link below). By this time, he had nearly completed a three decades’ long teaching career at the Moore College... of Art. He was now in his sixties. His late arrival immediately drew in younger painters around him, overtime forming Philadelphia’s first contemporary avant-garde, The Philadelphia School of Art, or to some, Imitation. http://leonardnelson.com/essay1.html Eight years after Nelson’s death in 1993, the renowned art historian Sam Hunter wrote a book on him, titled Leonard Nelson, Rizzoli, 2001. On the opening page, he stated that Nelson’s genre was new and influential, acknowledging secondhand the paintings of nearby painter, Warren Rohrer. Nelson’s style was new and influential. After influencing several painters in Philadelphia to follow him in style, he’s doing the same across the planet; notably, in the latest paintings of Damien Hirst and Susan Vecsey (below). They match his 30-50 years, hence. There’s no reason to doubt that they saw Nelson’s paintings in person, or online. It would only duplicate what Rohrer, Murray Dessner, Stephen Estock, and others did, locally. Philadelphia bore a master painter of all the ages, albeit, unappreciated, for wealth and egotistical branches inside our museums cage with Rohrer. They don’t want to accept the truth, Rohrer's failing auction prices, the historical record, or the fact that even Rohrer’s own promoters knew he was a fake, fomenting a modern Barnes. R. Brent Byrne Left to right: Damien Hirst painting his Veil series of paintings Susan Vecsey, 2020 Nelson, 1982 Nelson, 1990-1992

https://www.mutualart.com//Hearing-the-Br/7E882474B69607B4 Appears The Woodmere Art Museum will showcase Warren and Jane Rohrer in January. Will it again ignore and debase the amazing art of Leonard Nelson? During its 2012 Murray Dessner exhibition, it completely ignored Nelson despite its Curator stating this beforehand: Indeed. Nelson prefigured Rohrer, Dessner, and others. Odd that he’s not represented in the PMA or MoMA collections. Do you have a CV or a list of his ...collections? What a fascinating painter. Matthew Palczynski, Ph.D., Curator, Woodmere Art Museum, 7/6/2012 Will the museum include this year's statement from Professor Sid Sachs shedding light on Warren Rohrer's honesty? Dietrich didn't even want to look at Warren's work because he championed Agnes Martin. Sid Sachs, Exhibitions Director, University of the Arts, 2/19/2020 Because of the lack of fair credit for Nelson over the years, I've been forced into defending him and his art -- the reason for this page. Perhaps a protest march outside of the Woodmere on opening night or day in January is warranted? Brent Photo: Untitled 1974-1975, by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993)

Past Pollock and Color Field Last week’s auction misses on 2 Warren Rohrer language paintings the subject of the Woodmere Art Museum’s and the Palmer Museum’s upcoming joint exhibitions, are telling. They indicate the market has factored in February’s news that Daniel Dietrich knew his painter, Rohrer, was a fraud (Sid Sachs, Exhibitions Director, University of the Arts, 2/19/2000). It lowers his perch to that of a parrot. Consequently, my thesis has been proven correct.... Unfairly treated and shunned Leonard Nelson, who prefigured Rohrer by years, led an artist movement in Philadelphia in the 1970s before influencing through Damien Hirst and Susan Vecsey, today, our world’s first global vanguard, i.e., the perceptual. It followed under the radar, abstract expressionism. It is what we have all been waiting to see emerge. http://leonardnelson.com/essay1.html The Woodmere and the Palmer are ignoring the truth about Rohrer to assuage his Philadelphia promoters’ financial interests, regrettably. By refusing to credit the genuine if overlooked exemplar, Leonard Nelson, they are shutting their doors to acknowledging the biggest news in art since Pollock and color field painting. R. Brent Byrne Painter Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) The Philadelphia School of Art The Perceptual Bright is the Day, by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 72x70 in Oil on canvas 1982

Philadelphia Bore Major League Master Attached is an introduction to The Perceptual category of art, or the in between genre: http://leonardnelson.com/essay1.html... I discovered it through painter Leonard Nelson, a Peggy Guggenheim and Betty Parsons protégé and longtime Moore College of Art professor (PAFA ’39). Largely, because his paintings have been misclassified for years as being color field, or abstract-impressionism. Color field is abstract whereas abstract-impressionism pairs incompatible words devoid of any ties to an artist movement. Nelson’s paintings are neither. They suggest breathable air and reality, but from a foundation of abstract expressionism. They merited a new word; hence, the perceptual. Perception is integral to appreciating Nelson’s art. He may be the next dead-end painter past Pollock and Rothko as can be seen in the four photos below. Damien Hirst and Susan Vecsey, today exhibited at Gagosian, Spanierman, and Berry Campbell galleries, respectively, are just the latest in a long line of painters to paint in Nelson’s in between style. Philadelphia bore a major league, albeit, overlooked master who’s art astoundingly arrived before him through other painters. It is today on display at some of America’s finest venues. This after it dawned our city's first contemporary avant-garde, The Philadelphia School of Art. R. Brent Byrne Painter Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) The Philadelphia School of Art The Perceptual Left: Veil of Love Everlasting by Damien Hirst, 120 x 90 in, oil on canvas, 2017 Center Left: Untitled by Susan Vecsey, 40 x 42 in, oil on canvas, 2020 Center Right: Untitled by Leonard Nelson, 46 x 50 in, oil on canvas, 1988-1989 Right: The Philadelphia School of Art, led by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993)

Warren Rohrer fades hard at auction, yesterday. The market must be finally factoring-in his imitator past. Almost makes me want to rename The Philadelphia School of Art to the "The Philadelphia School of Imitation." Note how Rohrer evolves in style by adding primitive markings. He in fact moved out of style. It's a sure sign that he copied from Nelson. It was his downfall and proof he was a thief. Brent... Field: Language 7, by Warren Rohrer Oil on linen 54.25 x 54.25 1991 Sold: $6,250

Hirst's High Priced Paintings Damien Hirst's Veil paintings sell for as much as $1 million dollars apiece. Besides Nelson employing Van Gogh like brush strokes on his canvases versus Hirst's Seurat, is there a difference to the naked eye? Nelson predated Hirst in style by nearly 50 years. He owes Nelson at least a mention, or credit Brent... Top: Untitled by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 46 x 50 in Oil on canvas 1988-1989 Bottom: Veil of Love Everlasting, Damien Hirst (2017).

Hirst wittingly or unwittingly a parrot? Where did Damien Hirst get the impetus for his latest Veil series of paintings, the ones that trip into the perceptual, or the in between genre? Could he have naturally evolved from his 1990s Visual Candy series? Interesting to consider and analyze. He claims that he did, but his "candy" paintings do not suggest realism. Where did he gain the information to add it in? Mr. Hirst may have evolved honestly in style. He may have also seen... Leonard Nelson’s paintings online at the Findlay Galleries, NYC (post 2010). We witnessed in Philadelphia in the 1970s just how fast Leonard Nelson’s painting achievements caught on with talented painters around him, forming, overtime, The Philadelphia School of Art. They ushered in the perfect balance between abstraction and realism creating the third and final phase to twentieth-century American art. This never happened before, at least to the extent that Nelson ventured. It dawned a new art category, i.e., the perceptual. R. Brent Byrne Left: Dippy Dappy Dippy by Damien Hirst, 1993 Right: Veil of Secrecy by Damien Hirst, 2017

The Perceptual http://leonardnelson.com/essay1.html Mindscape by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993)... 60 x 52 in Oil on acrylic on canvas 1990 (Gratz Gallery) See more

Dissent Prohibited Leonard Nelson’s trailblazing painting style is in a renaissance. It’s being shown today to much excitement and praise in New York City and Beverly Hills, my fight over just credit notwithstanding. Nelson was besieged in the 1970s, by two Philadelphia painters that came after him. Their dishonesty was accepted, and later celebrated in debut museum exhibitions. It sucked the air out of an otherwise grand Philadelphia art story, one of pathbreaking acc...omplishment and influence. Nelson’s fate could have turned out much better had the late Edward Sozanski, Chief Art Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer, done his job. For example: One tends to read Leonard Nelson’s canvases as landscapes, even though they are totally non-referential and, with several exceptions, devoid of any suggestion of figure-ground interactions. Edward Sozanski, Art Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/27/1986 Warren Rohrer’s paintings evoke the spirit of altered landscapes without referring to nature directly. Edward Sozanski, Art Critic, Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/25/1995 Sozanski described Nelson’s and Warren Rohrer’s paintings in the Inquirer almost identically. He knew that Nelson predated Rohrer and was the original, like his coworker Victoria Donohoe, but did nothing. Instead, he watched as the Philadelphia Museum of Art and its contemporary art leader, Daniel Dietrich, teamed up to exhibit Rohrer in 2003. He didn’t question them. It’s obvious why Dietrich, Anne d’Harnoncourt, and Marian Locks backed Rohrer, but Sozanski was a reporter. What was his spiel? Likely, Sozanski feared Dietrich. It would explain why he hung Nelson out to dry. He understood that Rohrer was key to Dietrich’s art legacy, i.e., Rohrer equals Albert Ryder, Edward Hopper and Agnes Martin. If he challenged him, he knew what would come next. He’d lose his job. This happened in 2012 to Dr. Matthew Palczynski, Curator, Woodmere Art Museum, after he stated Indeed. Nelson prefigured, Rohrer, Dessner, and others. Dissent was prohibited. R. Brent Byrne Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) The Philadelphia School of Art The Perceptual Alma Noon by Leonard Nelson (1912-1983) 72 x 92 in Oil on Canvas 1979

New York City and Paris move over Beyond every great painting are the words that describe it. The closer they are to the painter's mind, the more honest they are. There’s no question that Damien Hirst, the wealthiest living painter, is currently painting in Leonard Nelson’s painting style, fifty years, hence. How he describes his painting style goes further. He opens the door to the "perceptual" that Nelson discovered in the 1970s being the world’s first international vang...uard. Compare his words to Nelson’s: Referencing both Impressionism and Abstract Expressionism, the 'Veil Paintings' layer brushstrokes and bright dabs of heavy impasto, enveloping the viewer in vast fields of colour. DamienHirst.com Most people refer to my work as abstract. Many call it expressionistic, and some say it’s impressionistic. I don’t call it anything except painting. Leonard Nelson, Sunday Local, 3/15/1987 The perceptual’s preoccupation with the space between impressionism, or realism, and abstract expressionism is now a planetary force in art. Seeded in Philadelphia, it is categorically, major. It begs that New York City and Paris move over. R. Brent Byrne Photo: Hirst solo exhibition, Gagosian, Beverly Hills, 2018

International Vanguard Seeded in Phiily? Damien Hirst's and Susan Vecsey's "perceptual" paintings on display in New York City and Beverly Hills, raise seriously the possibility of Philadelphia School being an international vanguard. It isn't hard to formulate given the advent of the internet, unlike yesteryear, where painters had to be living in the right city at the right time to participate. The internet has erased these rules. One can be a part of an artist movement from a...far. We’re witnessing it happen on this page in real time through the art of Leonard Nelson and those he initially influenced, Warren Rohrer and Murray Dessner. The perceptual may be the world’s first, global vanguard. Seeded in Philadelphia, but still traveling the world five decades later, it is the first of its kind. R. Brent Byrne The Philadelphia School of Art, led by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993)

Thanks to Leonard Nelson The third phase to twentieth-century American art, the perceptual, is Philadelphia’s newest star. It is our gift to the world. The perceptual is the space between abstract expressionism and realism, or New York City and Paris. Discovered and honed over decades by Philadelphia painter Leonard Nelson (1912-1993), rooted in his days spent at Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of this Century and Betty Parsons galleries in the 1940s, it is now painted across the pl...anet. Obvious examples are the latest paintings from Damien Hirst and Susan Vecsey on display at Gagosian, Spanierman, and Berry Campbell galleries, respectively. Nelson’s art, unfortunately, is mistaken for color field, or abstract-impressionism, lending to its underappreciated status. When asked to describe his painting style, even he was uncertain on what he painted: Most people refer to my work as abstract. Many call it expressionistic, and some say it’s impressionistic. I don’t call it anything except painting. Leonard Nelson, Sunday Local, 3/15/1987 Nelson was as confused as those categorizing him. Color field is abstract whereas abstract impressionism pairs disparate genres. Nelson is neither of these. He warranted a new word. The perceptual that I offer is the new and influential genre first observed by Professor Sam Hunter, Princeton University, in his book, Leonard Nelson, Rizzoli, 2001. Its influence has spread past the Philadelphia painters that Nelson helped jettison into debut exhibitions in 2003 and 2012, Warren Rohrer and Murray Dessner, to the countless artists that paint like him on the internet, to Hirst, Vecsey, and others. He is ubiquitous. The global art center has moved closer to Philadelphia, thanks to Leonard Nelson. R. Brent Byrne Leonard Nelson (1912-1993), The Philadelphia School of Art, The Perceptual The Sounds Of...by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 60 x 53 in Oil on acrylic on canvas 1983, 1984

Why He Wanted It Badly No museum curator, art historian, or writer could convince the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Daniel Dietrich that Leonard Nelson came before his painter, Warren Rohrer. They tried, but he insisted that everyone believe that Rohrer was honest so he could pair his painters together; in particular, Agnes Martin, whom he knew Rohrer copied earlier. Dietrich didn't even want to look at Warren's work because he championed Agnes Martin.... Sid Sachs, Exhibitions Director, University of the Arts, 2/19/2020 The current exhibitions of Damien Hirst and Susan Vecsey in Manhattan at Gagosian, Spanierman, and Berry Campbell galleries, respectively, paralleling what Leonard Nelson painted years before, confirm why Dietrich wanted Nelson’s painting style so badly. Rohrer equals Albert Ryder, Edward Hopper, and Agnes Martin. Daniel Dietrich, PMA Contemporary Committee member, 2003/Associated Press It was as "new and influential" as Sam Hunter, Princeton University, said it was (Leonard Nelson, Rizzoli, 2001). Dietrich may have worked at the PMA on the Contemporary Committee and at the Institute of Contemporary Art on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus as Director while backing Rohrer, but Hunter was right. Nelson's influence traveled far and wide, not just through the paintings of Rohrer and others, locally, i.e., The Philadelphia School of Art. It sailed as far as England where Hirst lives. Nelson de facto created the next generative aesthetic, for no existing words describe it. The perceptual, URL soon to follow, is the organic manifestation of the painted surface beyond abstract expressionism, or Pollock. It is what we've been waiting for. Dietrich saw it forming on the ground in Center City, Philadelphia, in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and then tried to link it to Rohrer and Martin. It forced him to reverse his negative Rohrer opinion. He didn’t care that Nelson’s style wasn’t his to award to anyone, especially, minimalist painters philosophically deaf to color. The PMA and ICA where Mr. Dietrich worked for the past five decades before his passing in 2015, need to make amends. Their disregard for intellectual ideas inside and outside our museum doors adds testimony to Nelson’s global importance. The policies they uphold that allow art collectors to steer artist recognition need to be checked. We deserve better. R. Brent Byrne Alma’s Garden, Front Bed, by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 50 x 44 in, Oil on canvas 1986-1987

Coming up for auction at Rago. Note Nelson's nascent progression in style. Beautiful. Untitled by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) Oil on canvas 36 h 33 w in... 1958 See more

Philadelphia Painter On Par With the Best Pollock, Rothko, and Nelson all showed together in the late 1940s at Betty Parsons Gallery, Nyc. Pollock broke out from the pack with his drip paintings, Rothko with color field, and Nelson with the perceptual that would take a quarter century to hone. They each authored major branches of post-war, American art. Today, Nelson's perceptual style of painting is on display at the top contemporary galleries in America through the la...test paintings of Damien Hirst and Susan Vecsey. It proves that Sam Hunter was correct when he wrote in 2001 that Nelson's painting style was new and influential. It reveals an astounding, new observation. The story of The New York School of Art is bigger than what we once knew. It germinated early on in New York City inside Nelson to inspire decades later, The Philadelphia School of Art. Nelson ended up contributing to two major city avant-gardes. He may be the only painter in history to do so. My instincts were right. Nelson is on par with best of all time. He is Philadelphia's most important painter since Eakins. R. Brent Byrne Champion Leonard Nelson (1912-1993), The Philadelphia School of Art, The Perceptual Untitled by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 50 x 54 in Oil on canvas 1992-1993

The story of art history did not end with Jackson Pollock. It progressed to the new "perceptual" manifestation of the painted surface. It was discovered by a longtime Philadelphia painter and Moore College of Art professor, Leonard Nelson, and is now painted freely across the globe. Our revered art museums and art colleges can deny it, which is their current stance, but it's as clear as day. Indeed, a modern version of Barnes has been written in Lower Merion Township, the... former home of the Barnes Foundation. Unbelievable I agree, but true. R. Brent Byrne Champion Leonard Nelson (1912-1993), The Philadelphia School of Art, The Perceptual Untitled, by Leonard Nelson (1912-1993) 60 x 54 in Oil on Canvas 1990-1993