Career
Leland Bell was a self-taught painter whose passion for the discipline of painting has inspired and influenced many. He was also a fierce advocate for artists that he admired. Bell was also a jazz aficionado and drummer.
In contrast to Matthíasdóttir, who worked quickly, Bell labored over his paintings, sometimes for years.
The couple had a daughter, Temma, in 1945. The family divided their time between New York and Matthíasdóttir"s native Iceland.
Bell was active as a painter, teacher, and lecturer. In 1987, he had a retrospective exhibition at the Phillips Collection in Washington, District of Columbia. He was diagnosed with leukemia in the 1980s, and died September 18, 1991.
