Reinhardt, Ad(olph Dietrich Friedrich) (1913–1967)

US painter and teacher. Influenced by oriental art, he travelled to Asia in 1958. He was an abstract minimalist and colourist. In the 1940s he painted bright abstractions, went on to his red and black period, as seen in Red Painting 1952, and from 1952 he concentrated on his ‘black’ paintings, which combine subtle colour tonalities.

He was born in Buffalo, New York. He studied at Columbia University 1931–35, 1936–37, and at New York University c. 1946–50. Based in New York, he was a member of the American Abstract Artists group 1937–47. He taught at Brooklyn College, New York 1947–67, and worked as an art critic, illustrator, and cartoonist for various periodicals.