Arnold Alfred Schmidt, born in 1930 in Plainfield,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, lived most of his life in New York City. He graduated with an MA from New York's Cooper Union, and worked for years as an Art Director at the Gusso-Hyman Advertising agency on such accounts as Jonathan Logan and Misty Harbor fashions. He later became a Commercial Art teacher at New Jersey's Kearny High School. He died of cancer in 1993. As a painter of the Op Art movement, his first solo exhibition, "Optical Paintings," opened on October 5, 1964, at the

Terrain Gallery The Terrain Gallery, or the Terrain, is an art gallery and educational center at 141 Greene Street in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1955 with a philosophic basis: the ideas of Aesthetic Realism and the Siegel Theory of Opposi ...

in New York, after which he exhibited a painting at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

's '' Responsive Eye'' show, which remains in MOMA's permanent collection. He exhibited "New Paintings" at the Terrain in 1965, and "Shaped Optical Paintings" in 1966, and in 1967 was one of 100 artists taking part in the Terrain's exhibition, "All Art Is for Life & Against the War in Vietna

a benefit to aid napalm-burned children. His work has been collected by various museums, including the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...

. Schmidt was married to Anita Schmidt (née Venetian), and had two sons, Arnold Anthony Schmidt and Bob Schmidt.

References

* Falk, Peter Hastings (Editor). ''Who Was Who in American Art 1564-1975'' 3 Vols, 1999. * Bowker R R. ''Who's Who in American Art 1993-94'', 20th Edition, 1993. * Jaques Cattell Press. ''Who's Who in American Art'', 1986. * Barr, Alfred H. ''Painting and Sculpture in the Museum of Modern Art'', 1977. * Jaques Cattell Press. Who's Who in American Art 12th Edition, 1977. * Seitz, William C. ''The Responsive Eye'', 1965. 20th-century American painters American male painters Cooper Union alumni People from Plainfield, New Jersey 1993 deaths 1930 births Op art {{US-painter-stub