Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston was a Los Angeles painter who adapted automotive lacquer, enamel, metallic paint, and aluminum to fine art and high-gloss surfaces.
Painter
Ed Moses
Ed Moses was an American abstract painter known for acrylic and oil grids, poured and scraped surfaces, and experimental resin work in Los Angeles.
Ed Moses quick facts
Moses combined acrylic and oil with masking, diagonal grids, paint pours, scraping, and experimental resin on raw wood and unstretched canvas.
| Born | 1926 · Long Beach, California, U.S. |
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| Died | 2018 · Venice, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Movements | Los Angeles Cool School · Postwar abstraction |
| Paint types | Acrylic paint · Oil paint |
| Painting surfaces | Canvas (stretched and unstretched) · Raw wood panels · Painting board · Paper |
| Painting methods | Crossing diagonal masked grids, dripping and pouring paint, scraping back layers to expose raw wood, and repeating marks across canvases |
| Common subjects | Geometric and diagonal grids, floral silhouettes, monochrome abstractions, energetic paint marks, and overlapping color planes |
| Other materials | Graphite, charcoal, masking tape, powdered pigments, and resin applied to flexible unstretched supports |
| Notable works | Rose Screen (1963) · Abstract Painting (Red #1) (1975–76) · Wild Trac (1975) · Maintenance Man (1982) |
Sources: LACMA: experimental materials, drawing, and Ferus Gallery history, LACMA: Abstract Painting (Red #1), acrylic on gessoed canvas, LACMA: Untitled (1986), oil and acrylic on canvas, LACMA: Maintenance Man, acrylic on raw wood, UC Irvine museum: Wild Trac, acrylic on canvas backed by wood, LACMA: poured, scraped painting and artist's 2018 death, and LACMA: resin on unstretched canvas and repetitive painted grids.
Paint types used by Ed Moses
Moses used acrylic on both gessoed canvas and raw wood, and combined oil with acrylic or collage, adapting paint to prepared and exposed supports.
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Acrylic paint
LACMA records Abstract Painting (Red #1) as acrylic on gessoed canvas and Maintenance Man as acrylic on raw wood. Across these supports, Moses used grids and exposed ground as active parts of the composition. The records document acrylic in works with different surfaces and preparation.
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Oil paint
The Norton Simon Museum catalogs Rafe as oil and collage on canvas; LACMA records a separate Untitled (1986) as oil and acrylic on canvas. These works document oil alongside acrylic and collage, which are distinct materials. The examples show his layered approach without treating the paint types as interchangeable.
Sources: LACMA: Abstract Painting (Red #1), acrylic on gessoed canvas; LACMA: Maintenance Man, acrylic on raw wood; Norton Simon Museum: Rafe, oil and collage on canvas; LACMA: Untitled (1986), oil and acrylic on canvas.
Painting surfaces used by Ed Moses
Moses worked on canvas and wood, supports recorded in museum catalogues for paintings ranging from layered abstractions to shaped panels and installations.
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Canvas
Moses painted on stretched and unstretched canvas, varying how the textile support sits within the work. LACMA records canvas in his acrylic works, and the Norton Simon identifies it in Rafe. These examples distinguish canvas from raw wood and board used in other paintings.
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Wood
LACMA documents Maintenance Man as acrylic on raw wood, where the unfinished surface remains part of the composition. This rigid support differs from gessoed canvas and board in other works. The collection record directly identifies the material and paint. The raw wood remains exposed around the painted areas, as the object record describes.
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Painting Board
Moses also worked on rigid painting board, alongside canvas and wood supports. Collection records document board in works with layered acrylic and oil. The firm surface differs from raw wood and flexible textile supports, and should be understood as one format in his experimental practice.
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Paper
Paper appears in Moses’s drawings and experimental works on paper documented by the Institute and Museum of California Art. These sheets are distinct from the canvas, raw wood, and board used for paintings. Collection records establish paper as part of his practice without assuming it carries the same media as his larger works.
Sources: LACMA: experimental materials, drawing, and Ferus Gallery history, LACMA: Abstract Painting (Red #1), acrylic on gessoed canvas, LACMA: Untitled (1986), oil and acrylic on canvas, LACMA: Maintenance Man, acrylic on raw wood, UC Irvine museum: Wild Trac, acrylic on canvas backed by wood.
Painters similar to Ed Moses
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