Jack Youngerman (b. 1926)

Jack Youngerman (b. 1926, Missouri – d. February 19, 2020) was an American artist celebrated for his lyrical geometric abstractions that bridged Abstract Expressionism and emerging minimalist/pop art sensibilities. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris (1947–1955), where he transitioned from figurative work to hard-edged abstraction . Upon his return to New York in 1956—at the suggestion of dealer Betty Parsons—he established a studio at Coenties Slip alongside Agnes Martin, Ellsworth Kelly, and others . His inclusion in MoMA’s landmark “Sixteen Americans” exhibition in 1959 positioned him among a new generation of post-Abstract Expressionist painters . Over a career spanning six decades, Youngerman’s work encompassed painting, works on paper, relief, and sculpture—often characterized by organic shapes suggestive of botanical forms or motion—and evolved into three-dimensional work in wood, fiberglass, and steel. His art was shown in more than fifty solo exhibitions, including a major retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum in 1986, and is held in numerous public collections worldwide.