LORSER FEITELSON (1898-1978)

“I have tried to create a wonder-world of formidable mood-evoking form, color, space, and movement: a configuration that for me metaphorically expresses the deep disturbance of our time: ominously magnificent and terrifying events, hurtling menacingly from the unforeseeable”. L.F. (In reference to his painting, Geomorphic Metaphor of 1950-51).

Lorser Feitelson came to Los Angeles in 1927, bringing with him Modernist ideas he had adopted while living in New York and Paris. Highly influential as a leader and teacher in the art community, Feitelson helped to establish Los Angeles as the important art center it is today.

With Helen Lundeberg in 1934, Feitelson founded Subjective Classicism, better known as Post Surrealism. In this movement, Feitelson rejected the unconscious and dream inspired works of European Surrealism. Instead, he focused upon conscious, carefully selected subjects pertaining to universal themes such as love, life and death.

From roughly 1940 – 1960, Feitelson embarked upon a remarkable exploration of abstract forms. Rooted in the figurative world, Feitelson’s compositions evolved from the organic into the geometric. Known as Abstract Classicism, this period of Feitelson’s work offers unique imagery that maintains the profound sense of space and form associated with traditional Classicism.

As time went on, Feitelson began reducing his compositions, focusing on just the essentials. From the mid-1960s, he ventured into Minimalism, creating sleek paintings comprised of sensuous lines set against solid backgrounds of color. These works were a culmination of Feitelson’s experience and represent decades of artistic development.

Louis Stern Fine Arts is the exclusive representative of the Estate of Lorser Feitelson.