Overview
Larry Poons was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1937. He studied at the New England Conservatory of Music from 1955 until 1957. Interest in the artist Piet Mondrian and his Boogie Woogie pictures with their geometric forms led Poons away from the study of music to the practice of art. He then decided to enroll at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts. At first he played a prominent role in the Optical Art and Color Field Art Movements, but Poons made many changes in his artistic techniques over the course of his career. During his lifetime Poons had more than 60 solo exhibitions in various galleries around the globe. He was fortunate to achieve great success early in his career and be represented by several prominent contemporary art galleries. His works have also been shown in many group exhibitions, while a number of respected museums have chosen to accession his paintings. His paintings also hang in the collections of major private art collectors. Numerous books and publications have been written regarding his works and his artistic career. Today he resides in New York City where he teaches at the Art Students League, but maintains a studio in Florida as well as another studio in upstate New York.
Museums and Public Collections
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York
Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio.Â
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Art Institute of Chicago
Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont
Brighton & Hove Museums, EnglandÂ
Cleveland Museum of Art, OhioÂ
Denver Art Museum, Denver, ColoradoÂ
Des Moines Art Center. Des Moines, Iowa
Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New YorkÂ
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Harvard University Art Museums, Massachusetts
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.  Â
Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana  Â
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles). Los Angeles, California
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston Massachusetts
Museum Of Fine Arts (Houston), Houston, Texas
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs, California
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C.
Tate Gallery, London, UK
University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville
Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York
Wichita Art Museum, Kansas
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut