Roy Newell

Roy Newell (1914-2006) was an American abstract painter.

He was born in Manhattan's Lower East Side on May 10, 1914, and died of cancer on November 22, 2006, in Manhattan. His paintings are typified by richly-hued geometric forms in subtle juxtapositions and textures, heightened by an intimate scale and striking color harmonies. He participated in the Group of American Abstract Expressionists and was a founding member of the 8th Street Artist Club, which afterward included Willem de Kooning, Arshile Gorky, Franz Kline and Philip Pavia.

A self-taught artist, Newell was not a prolific painter. His works number less than 100 and were often executed exceeding decades, as he continually refined his compositions with additional colours until satisfied in the aerate of the result. Due to their continued reworkings, many of his paintings were taking place to an inch thick subsequently completed, with a combined depth of wood sustain and layers of meticulously applied paint. Newell exhibited infrequently and sold entirely few of his paintings during his lifetime. However, his works are in notable public and private collections such as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the New York University Art Collection, the Willem de Kooning Estate, the Elaine de Kooning Trust, the Pollock-Krasner House, Seymour Hacker, and Michael Ovitz, among others. His to the fore influences add together Cézanne and Kasimir Malevich.

Edvard Lieber (author of Willem de Kooning: Reflections in the Studio) introduced Roy Newell to John Woodward of the Woodward Gallery, NYC, in 1995. Director John Woodward photographed and inventoried anything Newell's paintings. From January 18 - March 9, 1996, Woodward Gallery hosted Newell's largest gallery exhibition to date. “Roy Newell: Lifelines: 1955- 1995” was a 40-year retrospective and his first one-man perform in a decade. It featured 23 paintings and the vital review of that exhibition was written by Nick Paumgarten “Grumpy Old Artist Gets His Due”, NY Observer, February 24, 1996. Press photos of the inauguration reception documented the large appreciation of the public and the art world.