Leon Kelly

1901–1982

Introduction

Leon Kelly (October 21, 1901 – June 28, 1982) was an American artist born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is most well known for his contributions to American Surrealism, but his work also encompassed styles such as Cubism, Social Realism, and Abstraction. Reclusive by nature, a character trait that became more exaggerated in the 1940s and later, Kelly's work reflects his determination not to be limited by the trends of his time. His large output of paintings is complemented by a prolific number of drawings that span his career of 50 years. Some of the collections where his work is represented are the Metropolitan Museum in New York, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Boston Public Library.

Wikidata identifier

Q16010024

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Information from Wikipedia, made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License . Accessed May 26, 2025.

Country of birth

United States

Roles

Artist, painter, sculptor

ULAN identifier

500067108

Names

Leon Kelly, Leon Kelly y Corrons

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Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed May 26, 2025.

Not on view

First acquired
1941

Date of birth
October 21, 1901

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6 works

On the Hour

A 30-second online art project:
Maya Man, A Realistic Day In My Life Living In New York City

Learn more about this project

Learn more at whitney.org/artport

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