Alfred Leslie (born October 29, 1927) is an American artist noted for his figurative paintings and his abstract expressionist works done prior to the early 1960s.

Biography

Alfred Leslie was born in New York. After service in the US Coast Guard at the end of World War II, Leslie studied art at New York University, the Art Students League, and Pratt Institute.Benezra 1998, p.168.
In 1962, having gained recognition as a second generation Abstract Expressionist painter, Leslie abruptly changed course. His new works were realistic figurative paintings in grisaille, of which he later said, "there was a point at which I realized that if my work was to develop and evolve, and if I was to mature as an artist, these figurative ideas could not be ignored, even though following them could seem to imply that I would be turning my back on the twentieth century, turning my back on my abstract achievement".
On October 17, 1966, nearly all of Leslie's monochrome paintings were destroyed in a fire. Shortly afterwards, Leslie introduced color into his paintings, which have been widely exhibited. Leslie's solo exhibitions include those at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (1976); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (1976–77); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1977); Wichita Art Museum, Kansas (1984); Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida (1989); and St. Louis Art Museum, Missouri (1991).

Leslie is also known for his large scale charcoal drawings, and for his work as a photographer and filmmaker. Together with Robert Frank, Leslie directed the short film Pull My Daisy in 1959. The film, narrated by Jack Kerouac, was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1996. He also directed the film The Cedar Bar (2002).