albert-leon-wilson-american-1920-1999-i-ballerina-chair-i
Lot 4137
Albert Leon Wilson (American, 1920-1999), Ballerina Chair
Lot Details & Additional Photographs
Circa 1972, steel, chair form comprised of whimsical abstract shapes of the female figure, verso with worn inscribed mark, otherwise appears unsigned.

43 3/4 x 10 1/4 x 11 in.

Private Collection, Durham, North Carolina

Albert Wilson was born in 1920 in Jamaica, New York. He enlisted in the Navy at the age of twenty, where he learned a machinist trade. He also found work as a cartoonist and worked in the advertising world for 21 years. Wilson would eventually settle in Brockton, Massachusetts, maintaining a thriving studio creating metal works that often bridged art and function.
Wilson's process was direct — after a few studies in pencil, he would draw in chalk the contoured structure of his designs directly on the metal, which were often I-beams, box-beams, and U-channels, all favorites of the artist. He then used the oxy-acetylene torch and sliced away at the final design. His works are often of animals or the female form, with some influences of Cubism as well as totemic sculpture and Easter Island.
Wilson has had several one man exhibitions at Rolly-Michaux's Galleries in New York and Boston; Bodley Gallery, New York City; Lillian Kornbluth Gallery, New Jersey; among others. His work is included among prominent collectors such as the Nelson A. Rockefeller's Roberson Art Center Collection; University of Rochester Memorial Art Gallery; and the United States Embassy Collection in Washington, D.C.

Some surface abrasions and rubbing to patina, otherwise good estate condition.