Alfred Julio Jensen
Encyclopedia
Alfred Julio Jensen was an abstract painter. He is best known for his grids of tiny, brightly colored triangles and squares, painted in thick impasto
. He was one of a number of artists in the 1960s working with serial images.
Jensen was born in Guatemala
and moved to Denmark at age 7 to live with his uncle following the death of his mother. After graduating from school in Denmark, Jensen spent some time working as a cabin boy and traveling before attending art school in San Diego, Munich, and Paris. In 1929 while in school in Paris Jensen met Saidie May, who would become his patron while he worked as her art advisor for the next 20 years. Jensen continued to study art and theory while he and Saidie traveled extensively acquiring art for her collection and meeting artists. In 1951 Jensen settled in New York
and began to concentrate exclusively on painting following the death of Saidie May. At this time Jensen began to develop friendships with other important artists, like Mark Rothko
, as well as patrons and dealers. In 1961 Jensen had his first solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
in New York. In 1964 he and his wife, Regina, traveled and painted for six months in Italy, Egypt, Greece, France and Switzerland. They continued to travel, study, and paint until 1972 when, along with their children, Anna and Peter, they moved to New Jersey. In 1972 he joined the Pace Gallery
and exhibited canvases based on I Ching and the Delphic Oracle. Jensen continued to exhibit his works in between travel throughout the rest of his life until 1981 when he died in Livingston, New Jersey.
His first solo exhibition was held in 1952 at the John Heller Gallery, New York
. He had solo shows at the Guggenheim
(1961), Stedelijk Museum
, Amsterdam
(1964). In 1978/9 his exhibition Paintings and Diagrams From the Years 1957-1977 was shown at the São Paulo Art Biennial
, and toured American museums, including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery
, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
.
Museum exhibitions after his death include a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
in New York (1985), Dia Center for the Arts
(2001) and Santa Monica Museum of Art
(2003).
His work is held in numerous public collections including the Museum of Modern Art
, Albright-Knox Art Gallery
, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Art Gallery of Western Australia
, Baltimore Museum of Art
, Dallas Museum of Art
, Dia Center for the Arts
, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
, National Gallery of Art
, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
, Smithsonian Institution
and Whitney Museum of American Art
.
A resident of Glen Ridge, New Jersey
, Jensen died at a nursing home in Livingston, New Jersey
on April 4, 1981, at the age of 77 due to cancer.
The Alfred Jensen Estate is represented by The Pace Gallery
, New York.
Impasto
In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly, usually thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas...
. He was one of a number of artists in the 1960s working with serial images.
Jensen was born in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and moved to Denmark at age 7 to live with his uncle following the death of his mother. After graduating from school in Denmark, Jensen spent some time working as a cabin boy and traveling before attending art school in San Diego, Munich, and Paris. In 1929 while in school in Paris Jensen met Saidie May, who would become his patron while he worked as her art advisor for the next 20 years. Jensen continued to study art and theory while he and Saidie traveled extensively acquiring art for her collection and meeting artists. In 1951 Jensen settled in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and began to concentrate exclusively on painting following the death of Saidie May. At this time Jensen began to develop friendships with other important artists, like Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
, as well as patrons and dealers. In 1961 Jensen had his first solo exhibition at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York. In 1964 he and his wife, Regina, traveled and painted for six months in Italy, Egypt, Greece, France and Switzerland. They continued to travel, study, and paint until 1972 when, along with their children, Anna and Peter, they moved to New Jersey. In 1972 he joined the Pace Gallery
Pace Gallery
The Pace Gallery is a New York City-based exhibition space. It was founded in 1960 in Boston by Arne Glimcher.-PaceWildenstein:From 1993 until April 1, 2010, the gallery became "PaceWildenstein," a joint business venture between the Pace Gallery and Wildenstein & Co....
and exhibited canvases based on I Ching and the Delphic Oracle. Jensen continued to exhibit his works in between travel throughout the rest of his life until 1981 when he died in Livingston, New Jersey.
His first solo exhibition was held in 1952 at the John Heller Gallery, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He had solo shows at the Guggenheim
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
(1961), Stedelijk Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Founded in 1874, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is a museum for classic modern and contemporary art in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. It has been housed on the Paulus Potterstraat, next to Museum Square Museumplein and to the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw, in Amsterdam Zuid...
, Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
(1964). In 1978/9 his exhibition Paintings and Diagrams From the Years 1957-1977 was shown at the São Paulo Art Biennial
São Paulo Art Biennial
The São Paulo Art Biennial was founded in 1951 and has been held every two years since. It is the second oldest art biennial in the world after the Venice Biennial , which serves as its role model....
, and toured American museums, including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an art museum located in Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. The gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...
, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
.
Museum exhibitions after his death include a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York (1985), Dia Center for the Arts
Dia Art Foundation
Dia Art Foundation is a non-profit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 as the Lone Star Foundation by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumberger oil exploration...
(2001) and Santa Monica Museum of Art
Santa Monica Museum of Art
The Santa Monica Museum of Art is an independent non-collecting art museum located in Santa Monica, California. It exhibits the work of local, national, and international contemporary artists....
(2003).
His work is held in numerous public collections including the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Albright-Knox Art Gallery
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery is an art museum located in Delaware Park in Buffalo, New York. The gallery is a major showplace for modern art and contemporary art. It is located directly across the street from Buffalo State College.-History:...
, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Art Gallery of Western Australia
Art Gallery of Western Australia
The Art Gallery of Western Australia is a public gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth, Western Australia. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia...
, Baltimore Museum of Art
Baltimore Museum of Art
The Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, was founded in 1914. Built in the Roman Temple style, the Museum is home to an internationally renowned collection of 19th-century, modern, and contemporary art. Founded in 1914 with a single painting, the BMA today has 90,000 works...
, Dallas Museum of Art
Dallas Museum of Art
The Dallas Museum of Art is a major art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, USA, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In 1984, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the Arts District, Dallas, Texas...
, Dia Center for the Arts
Dia Art Foundation
Dia Art Foundation is a non-profit organization that initiates, supports, presents, and preserves art projects. It was established in 1974 as the Lone Star Foundation by Philippa de Menil, the daughter of Houston arts patron Dominique de Menil and an heiress to the Schlumberger oil exploration...
, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is an art museum beside the National Mall, in Washington, D.C., the United States. The museum was initially endowed during the 1960s with the permanent art collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn. It was designed by architect Gordon Bunshaft and is part of the...
, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is an art museum located directly on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark with an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II and up...
, National Gallery of Art
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
, Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
and Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
.
A resident of Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Glen Ridge, New Jersey
Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,527. In 2010, Glen Ridge was ranked as the 38th Best Place to live by New Jersey Monthly magazine....
, Jensen died at a nursing home in Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 29,366.Livingston was incorporated as a township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 5, 1813, from portions of Caldwell Township and Springfield...
on April 4, 1981, at the age of 77 due to cancer.
The Alfred Jensen Estate is represented by The Pace Gallery
Pace Gallery
The Pace Gallery is a New York City-based exhibition space. It was founded in 1960 in Boston by Arne Glimcher.-PaceWildenstein:From 1993 until April 1, 2010, the gallery became "PaceWildenstein," a joint business venture between the Pace Gallery and Wildenstein & Co....
, New York.