John Altoon

John Altoon
Born	1925 Los Angeles
Died	1969
Nationality	American
Education	Otis Art Institute, Art Center College of Design, Chouinard Art Institute
Known for	Painting

John Altoon (November 5, 1925 - February 8, 1969), an American artist, was born in Los Angeles to immigrant Armenian parents. From 1947–1949 he attended the Otis Art Institute, from 1947 to 1950 he also attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and in 1950 the Chouinard Art Institute. Altoon was a prominent figure in the LA art scene in the 1950s and 1960s. Exhibitions of his work were held at the Whitney Museum of Art, New York, The Corcoran Gallery, Washington D.C, San Francisco Museum of Fine Art, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Work

Altoon's work early work Abstract expressionist and later figurative works from mid 60's until his death of the 1960s. He was part of the "Ferus group" of artists so called for their association to the Ferus Gallery that operated in Los Angeles in 1957–1966. Some of the other artists included in this group are Edward Kienholz. Cool School documentary film about Altoon and other Ferus Gallery artists, many Ferus artists say John was the most the soul of the gallery and many younger artists were influenced by him. Irving Blum, partner in the Ferus Gallery, recalls: "If the gallery was closest in spirit to a single person, that person was John Altoon--dearly loved, defiant, romantic, highly ambitious--and slightly mad."

Mental health

Leah Ollman describes his life an 1999 article in Art in America, "With his outsized personality and reckless intensity, John Altoon loomed large in the L.A. art scene of the '50s and '60s.

Altoon was diagnosed as schizophrenic in his late 30s and suffered bouts of depression and paranoia--In the early 60" he became a patient of Dr. Milton Wexler, a prominent Los Angeles psychoanalyst

who brought order and productiveness back into his life. And those years brought a new level of intensity to his drawings and paintings.

Irving Blum, partner in the Ferus Gallery, recalls: "If the gallery was closest in spirit to a single person, that person was John Altoon--dearly loved, defiant, romantic, highly ambitious--and slightly mad." Altoon's struggle with mental illness, his big, dark, robust personality and his early death from a heart attack at 44 have, even more than his art itself, come to define his legacy."

Personal Life

John Altoon was married to the actress Fay Spain from 1959 to 1962. He was married to Babs Altoon Thomson from 1966 until his dealth in 1969.

External links

• Ollman Art in America
• Altoon at Artnet
• Altoon at AskArt
• http://www.beatmuseum.org/altoon/johnaltoon.html
• John Altoon in the National Gallery of Australia's Kenneth Tyler Collection
• John Altoon art work and papers, (ca.1940-1969) from the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.