James Howell (artist)

James Howell (1935–2014) was an American Minimalist painter known for his exploration of shades of gray, most notably displayed in his Series 10
==Biography==
===Early Life===
James Howell, born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1935, had a strong interest in art from a young age. Before completing his studies at Stanford University, he acquired his pilot's license during a summer job with a major airline in Los Angeles. Howell graduated from Stanford with a BA in English Literature in 1957 and earned another BA in Architecture in 1961. He married his first wife, Sandra, and his daughter, Karen, was born after finishing his education. He decided to pursue his artistic practice full-time in 1962.
===Mid-Life=== 
Howell and Peters renovated a mill house and created the artist's first studio home on Bainbridge Island in collaboration with Dallas Delay. In 1967 Howell commissioned George Edwin Monk to design and build a 45-foot boat that he named Topaz. He then redesigned the boat and built the 52-foot Topaz II in 1971. Howell's time spent at sea was deeply inspirational for his work during this period. 
Howell and Peters moved to San Juan Island in Washington State in 1983 where he created an award-winning studio. The project was completed with architects Christopher C. Morgan and Richard D. Lindstrom.
===Late Life===
In 1998 Howell moved to New York City and created a home and workspace in the West Village. This space became the location of the James Howell Foundation in 2017. The virtually colorless space was created in collaboration with designer Deborah Berke. Howell and Drury married in the spring of 1995. Howell began his Series 10 in 1996, which dominated his career until his death in 2014. In 1999 Howell met Drawings collector Wynn Kramarsky, who helped the artist connect with the New York art scene.
==Education==
Nelson-Atkins Art Institute, Kansas City, MO
Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
:BA English Literature 1957
:BA Architecture (Five-year Art and Architecture) 1961
== Awards ==
Humanities Prize in Architecture, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, 1961
Westchester Museum Annual, NY, 1970, Juror: Lucy Lippard, Dore Ashton
AIA NY Design Award, 1997
Architectural Record Houses of May 1983 for collaboration with Morgan and Lindstrom on "Private House on San Juan Islands"
==Career==
===Early Career=== 
Howell's interest in abstraction is apparent in his figural work. His 1960s paintings feature portraiture and genre scenes rendered with loose brushwork and contrasting colors. These elements are present in works such as Girl in Landscape, 1969, Acrylic on canvas, 45 × 51 in. (114.3 × 129.5 cm) and Larder, 1962, Acrylic on canvas, 45 × 51 in. (114.3 × 129.5 cm). By the late 1960s he began to experiment with color blocking and divisions in his Flag Series. This hints at his fascination with the "in between." In a 1963 interview for Life Magazine titled "Human Figure Returns in Separate Ways and Places," Howell discusses his approach to art and abstraction. He mentions that he felt more liberated to express himself through abstraction, though he continued to occasionally explore representation through 1973.
With the 1970s came a gradual dissolution of form as Howell became increasingly interested in the sensory impression of color and light. "My work," he proclaimed in 1976, "is at the center of the spontaneous, sensed, living aspect of man." In the early 1980s, his methodology developed. He explained that he no longer used color to "show hue," but only to capture "subtle nuance" in levels of illumination. He emphasized the reduction of masses in his paintings "to a spiral point dissolving in a field." Howell's Point of Fields series in the 1990s is the precursory research for the culmination of his career in Series 10. His exploration of the mathematical structure of natural phenomena informs his understanding of the nuance between light and dark manifesting in a study of gray.
===Series 10===
"Gray embodies passages of time, " Howell said, "... and I like its softness, also its simplicity and space." In 1992, Howell realized that by mixing a small amount of clay dust with titanium white, ivory black, and burnt sienna he could achieve a gradation of warm grays. Throughout his production of Series 10, Howell created 12,000 individual gray tones. The titles of his works refer to the percentage of white in the first line of the painting. They were then used to create subtle gradations of gray with acrylic on canvas with each painting's title referencing the percentage of white in the first band of paint in the work. Throughout this process, he produced works on paper that accompanied his paintings. Aqua-print and graphite renderings of his acrylic works feature either lines, curves, or numbers that indicate the percentage of white, black, and burnt sienna in the corresponding painting. "James Howell's works are also a major lesson in sustained, precise viewing, investigating as they do the diversity of the colour grey as an independent color with different shades and brightnesses, and in its dependence on light. This chromatic reduction offers the viewer the chance for contemplation and quiet, in which the spectrum of subtle nuances can be perceived."
==Exhibitions==
Solo Exhibitions
:1971
::James Howell. Polly Friedlander Gallery, Seattle, WA
::James Howell. Kenady Gallery, Gig Harbor, WA
:1974
::James Howell. Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, WA
:1979 – 1978 
::James Howell. Kiku Gallery, Seattle, WA
:1980 
::James Howell. Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA
:1992 
::Light Stone Veils. Windows Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
:1995 
::Series 1.9 Set 68.98. Sharon Truax Fine Art, Venice, CA
::Gradient Intervals - Series 6.4. Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
:2000 
::Series Ten. Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
:2004 
::Ten Grays. Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
:2010 
::Progression of Six. von Bartha Chesa, Chanf, Switzerland
:2024
::Twilight: 21 Works by James Howell. New York Studio School, New York, NY
Group Exhibitions
:1980 
::Foster/White Gallery, Seattle, WA
:2013 
::Hauptsache Grau #04 Konstruiertes. Mies van der Rohe Haus, Berlin, Germany
==Series==
: Points of Feilds Series, 1990 - 1996, Acrylic on canvas.
: Clay Series, 1993 - 1996, Acrylic with clay additives on canvas and aluminum. 
Category:Women artists
[[Category:1935 births
Category:2014 deaths
Category:People from the United States
Category:American people