# Alfred Leslie artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/alfred-leslie/
Profile generated: 2026-05-23T11:48:14.177Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1927-10-29
- Nationality: American
- Movements: Abstract Expressionism, Figurative Realism
- Common media: oil painting, lithograph, drawing, collage, film

## About Alfred Leslie

Alfred Leslie (1927–2023) was an American painter and filmmaker whose career spanned more than seven decades. He first gained recognition in the 1950s as a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement, producing large-scale gestural paintings that placed him among the most prominent postwar American artists. In the early 1960s, Leslie made a dramatic shift toward figurative realism, becoming one of the notable realist painters of his generation. His collaborative projects included lithographic contributions to the landmark artist-book 1¢ Life (1963–64) and preparatory drawings for In Memory of My Feelings (1967). Leslie also worked as a filmmaker, broadening his multidisciplinary practice. A devastating fire on October 17, 1966 destroyed nearly all of his monochrome abstract paintings, a loss that profoundly shaped his surviving body of work. His art is held in major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

## Common works and media

Common works by Alfred Leslie include large-scale oil paintings in both abstract expressionist and figurative realist styles, preparatory drawings, collages, and lithographic prints. His abstract works from the 1950s feature gestural brushwork on monumental canvases, often in a limited palette. Later figurative paintings depict realistic scenes and portraits. Leslie contributed lithographs to the collaborative artist-book 1¢ Life (1964), and preparatory drawings for projects such as In Memory of My Feelings also appear in museum holdings and at auction. Collectors may encounter his work across oil, acrylic, charcoal, ink, and print media.

## Market and appraisal context

Alfred Leslie's work appears at auction in Post-War and Contemporary Art, American Art, Works on Paper, and Prints and Multiples categories. Surviving Abstract Expressionist canvases are rare due to the 1966 fire that destroyed most of his monochrome paintings, making extant pre-1966 works particularly significant for appraisal. His later figurative paintings, drawings, and prints are more commonly encountered. Collectors should note that medium, date, provenance, condition, and whether a work predates or postdates the 1966 fire can substantially affect value. Leslie also contributed lithographs to the 1¢ Life portfolio, which appears regularly at auction.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines researched artist identity data from museum, library authority, and biographical sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available.

## Sources

- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/49579
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/3495
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q577242
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/114270448/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500006228
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Leslie
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n87102249