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The estate of De Wain Valentine

De Wain Valentine was born in 1936 in Fort Collins, Colorado. His childhood was marked by an interest in nature; hunting for agates and stones to polish was a formative pastime. As a young adult he worked in car and boat shops, discovering cutting-edge industrial materials like polyester and fiberglass. Translucent and reflective surfaces—naturally occurring or fabricated—became overarching fascinations and artistic objectives. Valentine completed a BFA and an MFA at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and was a summer fellow at the Yale Norfolk School of Art. In 1965 he moved west to teach a plastics technology class at the University of California, Los Angeles. Settling in Venice, the distinct environment of Southern California became a major influence for the artist, who described it as nothing short of revelatory: "Moving to LA in the 1960s the atmosphere was so thick you could cut it, you could take a saw and cut a chair out of and sit on it. These works started with that California sea air.”1

Valentine established himself as a leading figure of the Light and Space movement, a significant current within the 1960s California scene. His sculptures sought to replicate light, smog, and atmosphere using industrial plastics and resin. This distinctly modern material language allowed Valentine to create works with pristine surfaces evoking the glossy finish of machine-made objects. His sculptures reflect and distort light, becoming what the artist referred to as “transparent colored space.” Collaborating with engineers, he developed a new resin that allowed monumental sculptures to be cast in a single pour. The resulting invention of ‘Valentine MasKast Resin’ distinguished Valentine among his contemporaries working in similar materials. Valentine died in 2022, leaving behind a significant legacy as a pioneer who bridged technology and art to create transcendent, lasting works. 

De Wain Valentine’s work has been the subject of significant solo exhibitions at institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, US; the Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, CA, US; and the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, US, as well as presentations organized by the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, CA, US. His work has also been featured in important museum exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, US; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, US; and the Hayward Gallery, London, UK, among others.

Valentine’s work is held in numerous public collections worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, US; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, US; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, US; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, US, as well as the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France, and the François Pinault Foundation, Paris, France.


1 Michael Straus, "De Wain Valentine with Michael Straus," Brooklyn Rail, May 2019.
Image: De Wain Valentine, Nightline Passage, 1992 - Polymer resin, acrylic paint - 244 x 427 x 7 cm, 96 1/8 x 168 1/8 x 2 3/4 in

  • Biography

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  • Bibliography

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Selected artworks

  • De Wain Valentine, Square gray dapple to black, 1970-71

    De Wain Valentine Square gray dapple to black, 1970-71

    Cast polyester resin
    86,04 x 86,04 x 6,99 cm

  • De Wain Valentine, Gray Column, 1975-76

    De Wain Valentine Gray Column, 1975-76

    Cast Polyester Resin
    355,6 x 222 x 24 cm

    Installation view: From Start to Finish: De Wain Valentine’s Gray Column

    September 13, 2011 – March 11, 2012 - J. Paul Getty Museum, West Pavilion, Los Angeles

  • De Wain Valentine, Slab, 1968

    De Wain Valentine Slab, 1968

    Cast polyester resin
    177,8 x 58,4 x 43,2 cm

    Collection Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Gift of First Interstate Bank of California, Los Angeles. © De Wain Valentine 1968. Photo by Philipp Scholz Rittermann.

  • De Wain Valentine, Red Concave Circle, 1970

    De Wain Valentine Red Concave Circle, 1970

    Cast polyester resin
    96 Ø x 12 in

    Installation view: From Start to Finish: De Wain Valentine’s Gray Column
    September 13, 2011 – March 11, 2012 - J. Paul Getty Museum, West Pavilion, Los Angeles

  • De Wain Valentine, Small Circle, 1971

    De Wain Valentine Small Circle, 1971

    Cast polyester resin
    44,5 x 44,5 x 3 cm

Gallery exhibitions

Museum exhibitions

Selected press