Ellsworth Kelly Daffodil, 1979-80 Lithograph, 39 1/4 x 28 1/4" Edition: 27/50 Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mt Kisco, N.Y. Grand Rapids Art Museum, gift of Daniel and Pamella Devos, 2004.2.49

New York, NY – From June 7 through August 14, 2006, the AXA Gallery will present, The Plant Lithographs of Ellsworth Kelly, an exhibition that comprises the complete lithograph series of plants, fruits and flowers, executed over fifty years. Ellsworth Kelly has occupied the center stage of modernism since his early years in Paris in the 1950s where he came under the influence of artists like Jean Arp, Constantin Brancusi, and Alexander Calder. Distinguished for his pure minimalist style in painting, sculpture, and work on paper, Kelly declares that his abstraction remains rooted in the natural world. In their exceptional simplicity of line and shape, The Plant Lithographs reveal the source of Kelly's art in his vision of nature, providing a critical link to the character of his abstraction.

An American artist of worldwide renown, Ellsworth Kelly (born 1923) has consistently returned to nature as a theme throughout his extraordinary career. Kelly began making prints in 1964. Shortly thereafter he created his first suite of plant lithographs. To date, Kelly has produced seventy-two plant lithographs: Suite of Plant Lithographs (1964-66), Leaves (1973-74), Twelve Leaves (1978), Series of Plant and Flower Lithographs (1983-85); Oak Leaves (1992); and fourteen individual works. When examined as a whole, they show a remarkable range of style and expression within the format of contour line drawing. The complete plant lithographs, created from the early 1960s to the present, are seen in Drawn from Nature and taken entirely from the permanent collection at the Grand Rapids Art Museum.

Drawn from Nature: The Plant Lithographs of Ellsworth Kelly was organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum and supported in part by a grant from National Endowment for the Arts. AXA Gallery is sponsored by AXA Equitable. Additional assistance has been provided by AXA Art Insurance Corporation.

Ellsworth Kelly Catalpa Leaf (Feuille), 1965-66 Lithograph, 35 3/8 x 24 5/8" Edition: 13/75 Maeght Editeur, Paris Grand Rapids Art Museum, Gift of James Pingree and Mary G. Nelson

Ellsworth Kelly was born May 31, 1923, in Newburgh, New York. He studied at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, from 1941 to 1943. After military service from 1943 to 1945, he attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, from 1946 to 1947. The following year, Kelly went to France and enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under the G.I. Bill. In France, he discovered Romanesque art and architecture and Byzantine art. He was also introduced to Surrealism and Neo-Plasticism, which led him to experiment with automatic drawing and geometric abstraction.

In 1950, Kelly met Jean Arp and that same year began to make shaped-wood reliefs and collages in which some elements were arranged according to the laws of chance. He soon began to make paintings in separate panels that can be recombined to produce alternative compositions, as well as multipanel paintings in which the canvas is painted a single color. During the 1950s, he traveled throughout France, where he met Constantin Brancusi, Alexander Calder, Alberto Magnelli, Frances Picabia and Georges Vantongerloo, among other artists. His first solo show took place at the Galerie Arnaud, Paris, in 1951.

Ellsworth Kelly Grape Leaves III, 1973-74 Lithograph, 47 1/4 x 31 1/2" Edition: 1/50 Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Grand Rapids Art Museum, 2004.2.35

Kelly returned to the United States in 1954, and lived in a studio apartment on Broad Street, and then at Coenties Slip in lower Manhattan. Kelly continued to develop and expand the vocabulary of painting, exploring issues of form and ground with his flatly painted canvases. His first solo show in New York was held at the Betty Parsons Gallery in 1956 and three years later he was included in Sixteen Americans at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 1958, he also began to make freestanding sculptures. He moved out of Manhattan in 1970, set up a studio in Chatham, and a home in nearby Spencertown, New York.

Kelly's first retrospective was held at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1973. The following year, Kelly began an ongoing series of totemic sculptures in steel and aluminum. He traveled throughout Spain, Italy and France in 1977, when his work was included in Documenta in Kassel. He has executed many public commissions, including a mural for UNESCO in Paris in 1969, sculpture for the city of Barcelona in 1978, a memorial for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. in 1993, and large-scale panels for the Deutscher Bundestag, Berlin, 1998.

Ellsworth Kelly Calla Lily II, 1983-85 Lithograph, 36 x 25" Edition: 13/75 Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles Grand Rapids Art Museum, Gift of William and Marilyn Crawford, 2004.2.5835

Kelly's extensive work has been recognized in numerous retrospective exhibitions, including a sculpture exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, in 1982; an exhibition of works on paper and a retrospective of his prints that traveled extensively in the United States and Canada from 1987-88; and a career retrospective in 1996 organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, which traveled to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Tate Gallery, London; and the Haus der Kunst, Munich. In 2000, Kelly was awarded the prestigious Praemium Imperiale, the equivalent in the arts to the Nobel Prize. It is a lifetime achievement award that is given in recognition of the international impact an artist has had on the creative arts. Kelly lives in Spencertown, NY.

Ellsworth Kelly Lemon Branch (Branche de citron), 1965-66 Lithograph, 35 3/8 x 24 1/8" Edition: 13/75 Maeght Editeur, Paris Grand Rapids Art Museum, Gift of James Pingree and Mary G. Nelson

In 2002 Ellsworth Kelly accepted the Grand Rapids Art Museum's proposal to organize a retrospective exhibition on his plant lithographs. Exhibition curator, Richard Axsom, who had enjoyed a long-term working relationship with the artist, began research on the project and conducted a series of interviews with the artist as the museum worked to assemble and acquire the seventy-two lithographs constituting the complete work. Through the generosity of various donors, all of the lithographs were acquired within a two-year period. Donors include: William and Marilyn Crawford, Samuel M. Cummings, Daniel and Pamella DeVos, Brian and Eileen DeVries Family, Stephen Dull, Earl and Donnalee Holton, John R. Hunting, Miner S. and Mary Ann Keeler, Jack H. Miller, James and Mary Nelson, Diana Wege, and Peter Wege. Ellsworth Kelly donated a significant number of works.

Drawn from Nature: The Plant Lithographs of Ellsworth Kelly is the first national/international tour ever organized by the Grand Rapids Art Museum. Following the opening there in March of 2005, the exhibition was shown at the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College from June 12 through August 14, 2005. The following schedule is for the balance of the exhibition tour.

Ellsworth Kelly Woodland Plant, 1979 Lithograph, 31 5/8 x 47 1/2" AP IX, from an edition of 100 Tyler Graphics, Ltd., New Bedford, NY Grand Rapids Art Museum, 2004.2.48

Tate Gallery St. Ives

England

January 27 – May 7, 2006

AXA Gallery, New York

New York

June 7 – August 14, 2006

Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo, Seville

Spain

September 21, 2006 – January 14, 2007

Accompanying the exhibition is a fully illustrated hardcover catalogue written by Dr. Richard H. Axsom, Senior Curator, Prints and Photographs, at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. The book is published by Yale University Press in association with the Grand Rapids Art Museum. The catalogue is priced at $35.00 and may be purchased at the newsstand next to the AXA Gallery or online at www.gramonline.org.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) presents exhibitions of national caliber and regional distinction. The museum collection spans Renaissance to Modern art, with particular strength in 19th and 20th century paintings, prints and drawings. In 2007, the Art Museum will open its new 125,000 square foot facility adjacent to an urban park designed by Maya Lin. For more information call 616-831-1000 or visit www.gramonline.org.

AXA Gallery showcases works from all fields of the visual arts, with a special interest in exhibitions that would not otherwise have a presence in the city. The gallery is located in the atrium lobby of the AXA Equitable Tower, 787 Seventh Avenue at 51st Street, in New York City. Hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed Sundays. Admission is free.