American artist Irving Kriesberg dies at 90

updated 1:27 p.m. ET Nov. 18, 2009

NEW YORK - American painter Irving Kriesberg has died in New York City. He combined intense abstract colors with human and animal elements.

His son, Matthias, tells The New York Times his father died Nov. 11 of complications from Parkinson's disease. He was 90.

Kriesberg's works appear in major museums, including New York's Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington.

The Chicago-born artist also taught at Yale, Columbia and Pratt Institute.

In the 1940s, he applied for a job as lighting designer of the Times Square Wondersign billboard. For his audition, he created an illuminated Frank Sinatra, and got the job.

Survivors include his wife, Felice K. Shea, a retired State Supreme Court justice; and two children.

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