John Opper

John Opper (1908–1994) was an American painter who transitioned from semi-abstract paintings in the late 1930s to fully abstract ones in the 1950s. He became known for his handling of color and in particular his ability to create dramatic intensity on the picture plane by means of juxtaposed, more-or-less rectangular areas of color. He was associated with the abstract expressionist movement and frequently showed in galleries that specialized in abstract expressionist art. Late in life, he described his style by what it was not. He said, "The whole is the sum of its parts. That's what my school of abstract art is about, a school that evolved from nature, not conceptual, not geometric, not hard-edged. It's only art."

Personal life and family

Opper's birth name was John Samuel Opper.

Public museum collections

Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, New York The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York Parrish Art Museum, Watermill, New York Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, North Carolina Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York