Bell was awarded a scholarship to attend the Leeds College of Art between 1947 and 1952 and, encouraged by Terry Frost, moved to Cornwall in 1955.
Nicholson encouraged him to show in London and Waddington Galleries gave Bell his first solo exhibition in 1958.
[2] Patrick Heron wrote the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, stating that Bell was ‘the best non-figurative painter under thirty’.
It was during his time at the University of Leeds that Bell developed his shaped canvases, which set his work apart from other abstract artists of his generation.
In 1973 he presented his new work at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, having just taken part in a major exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. Over the course of the next thirty years Bell combined painting with teaching in various locations eventually moving to Florida State University, Florida, in 1976 to become the Professor for Master Painting.