Colors of Jazz

Rhythm, syncopation and alternate takes make up the paintings of Leland Bell, on view at Rider University. The opening reception Nov. 6 features a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Ashbery.

By: Susan Van Dongen

Set amid vibrant colors and drawn with bold lines, the figures in Leland Bell’s "Morning" series make dramatic gestures, moving their limbs as though choreographed in modern dance. Above, "Morning V."

   One of the best things about vinyl recordings re-released on CD is that the technology allows for so much more music. Jazz aficionados have especially rejoiced, hearing various revisions of classic numbers. Miles Davis, for example, frequently did alternate takes of single tunes during a session. Jazz fans point to the composition "So What," which the quintessential perfectionist recorded on album after album over the course of his career and never played it the same way.
   Late 20th century modernist painter Leland Bell (1922-1991) worked in a similar way, revising and re-revising even his most ambitious paintings. Jed Perl, art critic for The New Republic and an acquaintance of Mr. Bell’s, talks about how the artist "riffed" around certain themes in his paintings.
   "Leland Bell was a jazz drummer, and jazz — especially be-bop — is very important to a lot of artists who came of age after World War II," he says. "There was this idea that you took a theme and played variations on it, like jazz improvisation. This is a very powerful idea for Bell and a lot of others in that generation."

"Temma in Orange Dress"

   A new traveling exhibit, which encompasses some 40 paintings and drawings by the iconoclastic artist and influential teacher, comes to Rider University this month, after stops at Swarthmore and Haverford colleges in Pennsylvania. Changing Rhythms: Leland Bell: Works From the 1950s-1991 will be on view at the Rider University Art Gallery in Lawrenceville, Nov. 5 to Dec. 11. The opening reception Nov. 6 features a reading by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet John Ashbery.
   Invited to the campus by Rider Professor of Fine Arts Deborah Rosenthal, Mr. Ashbery is the author of 20 books of poetry and is a well-known art critic who wrote extensively about his friend Leland Bell.
   Mr. Perl notes the post-World War II era was a liberating time for creative people in all genres. Poets and painters challenged the rigid traditions set by the universities and larger, more conservative museums.
   "They both had this idea of making their own view of history, art and literature," Mr. Perl says. "(These philosophies) spread and grew into a community of younger and older artists who were somewhat away from the elite. There was this feeling of being part of an underground movement."
   Born in 1922, Mr. Bell was about the same age as Jack Kerouac and the group of artists and writers who would come to be known as the Beats. One of the strongest bonds of this generation was a deep-rooted love of jazz. Critic Martica Sawin notes that Lester Young was a favorite of Mr. Bell’s. The saxophonist’s music could frequently be heard in the background as the painter worked in his studio.

"Butterfly Groups"

   Influences of the jazz aesthetic can be seen in the fluidity of movement in paintings such as the "Morning" series. Set amid vibrant colors and drawn with bold lines, the figures make dramatic gestures, moving their limbs as though choreographed in a modern dance.
   "One of the interesting things about Lee Bell was that he would talk about a classic painting, like a Rembrandt, as if it were a jazz (composition)," Mr. Perl says. "He would talk about a painting’s rhythms, the syncopation and color. It was a completely new and very, very exciting approach."

"Self-Portrait"

   As a youth in Washington, D.C., Mr. Bell’s passion for painting was sparked by trips to the Phillips and other museums in the city. He spent summers living with and visiting fellow artists in Provincetown, Mass., and New York.
   Mr. Bell lived in Paris for a year and won the attention of such European artists as Jean Arp and Alberto Giacometti. A founding member of the New York Studio School faculty in 1964, he taught for 13 years at New York’s Parson School of Design. He also taught at Yale, the Kansas City Art Institute and Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind.
   Essentially self-taught, his curiosity, intelligence and talent allowed him to incorporate such influences as André Derain, Piet Mondrian and Ferdinand Leger into his own works.
   "He was skeptical about any kind of system like ‘these are the important artists and this is the way you do it,’ " Mr. Perl says. "It was a time when a lot of the art in the formal galleries was very minimalistic. Lee, on the other hand, had a lot of things going on in his paintings, and showed that art could have this expressive quality.

"Still Life With Plant and Skull"

   "Leland Bell was very outspoken, which is liberating for younger artists who are trying to find their way. When you’re young, you don’t know if you should trust your instincts, even if they tell you that something in the (established) museum is not that great. Lee would say, ‘Why don’t you look at this instead, go to this smaller gallery off the beaten track.’ That’s what excited those of us who heard him speak."
   The Leland Bell show will travel to a total of seven galleries, six of which are affiliated with universities. After Rider, the exhibit goes to the Watkins Gallery of American University in Mr. Bell’s hometown of Washington, D.C.
   "This show is especially significant because it presents an alternative history of what happened in the New York art scene at that time," Mr. Perl says. "The exhibit speaks of and affirms a kind of reconnection. It’s a salute to a painter of enormous importance.
   "Post-World War II was a great turning point in American culture. There were a lot of young people who came to the cities and felt liberated by all the changes, who felt free to do what they wanted as artists and writers. Lee Bell was very much a part of that spirit, as was John Ashbery."

"Figure Group with Bird"

Changing Rhythms: Leland Bell: Works From the 1950s-1991, is at the Rider University Art Gallery, second floor of the Student Center, 2083 Lawrenceville Road, Lawrenceville, Nov. 5-Dec. 11. Poet John Ashbery will give a reading at the opening reception Nov. 6, 5-7 p.m. Gallery hours: Mon.-Thurs. 2-8 p.m., Fri.-Sun. 2-5 p.m. For information, call (609) 895-5589.