Biography

 
“The art of Harold Altman, profoundly individualistic, gives us a vision of a world imbued with poetry, maturity, and compassion; and if a single theme prevails – the parks, as gardens of life – could one not quote in this connection these lines of Michel Seuphor on the subject of Mondrian: “Modern man in his search for himself fixes upon a theme, and in that theme each artist discovers or conceals his own mystery, and in that sense that one theme constitutes his whole world.”

—Alma de Chantal, Vie Des Arts Magazine

 
Altman outside of the 19th-century church that served as his studio for more than thirty years.

Altman outside of the 19th-century church that served as his studio for more than thirty years.

Born in New York City in 1924, Altman has been recognized by critics as one of the top graphic artists in the United States and ranked among the finest printmakers in the world. Altman studied at the Art Students League, Black Mountain College, the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, and the Cooper Union Art School.

New York's Museum of Modern Art has over 40 of Altman's works in their permanent collection, and the Whitney and Brooklyn Museums each have more than 50 examples of Altman's works on paper. His work can be found in prominent institutions worldwide, including the Victoria and Albert Museum of London, the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam, the Kunst Museum of Basel, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Copenhagen, and the Bibliotheque Nationale of Paris.

Amongst Altman's numerous commendations are two Guggenheim Fellowships, a Tamarind Lithography Fellowship, a National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, a Fulbright-Hayes Senior Research Fellowship for work in France, and a National Endowment for the Arts Grant.