Red Grooms Art
American, b. 1937
Charles Roger Grooms was born in 1937 in Nashville, Tennessee, a city that, with its lively honky-tonk scene and the theatricality of the historic Grand Ole Opry, would later influence much of his work. Nicknamed for his ginger hair, Red enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1955. A self-proclaimed “restless and undisciplined student,” Grooms spent the next few years moving between schools and cities, including the New School in New York, Peabody College (now part of Vanderbilt University) in Nashville, and Hans Hofmann’s summer school in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Frustrated with the academic track and anxious to enter the New York art scene, Grooms abandoned formal education to focus exclusively on creating art and securing exhibition opportunities in his Chelsea neighborhood. There, he found quick success and a supportive circle of artists that became close friends and collaborators.
From the start of his career, Grooms has worked in multiple media, from painting, printmaking, and sculpture, to installation art, filmmaking, and theatrical experiences known as “Happenings.” Much of his art blurs the boundaries between these different forms, such as his large-scale, carefully-crafted environments he calls “sculpto-pictoramas,” and smaller objects like Dalí Salad. In this example, Grooms combines silkscreened and lithographic elements with a wooden base and acrylic dome to create a three-dimensional portrait of the famous Surrealist artist.
Grooms is perhaps best known for his colorful and comedic commentary on the culture, politics, and figures associated with the American urban environment and art historical traditions. Relying on satire and caricature, Grooms’ art has paid homage to a wide range of artists including Rembrandt, Auguste Rodin, Thomas Eakins, and Benjamin West, as well as national icons like Thomas Jefferson and Chuck Berry. Grooms’ disparate output is so difficult to classify that he has been compared to the influential Dada artist, Marcel Duchamp. Like Duchamp, Grooms often deliberately confronts the art world establishment, noting in 1974 that “it’s good to have . . . something to go against.”
Despite his affinity for defying the mainstream, Grooms is routinely cited by scholars as one of the leading American artists of his generation and was honored with the National Academy of Design’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. The subject of a 1984 mid-career retrospective exhibition held at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the artist’s work can be found in public collections across the United States, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, as well as in many international museums.
- The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina(Biography provided by Helicline Fine Art)
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Artist: Red Grooms
Saskia Down the Metro
By Red Grooms
Located in Tbilisi, GE
Signed
Edition of 250
Category
20th Century Contemporary Red Grooms Art
Materials
Other Medium
Fats Domino
By Red Grooms
Located in Tbilisi, GE
3D Color Lithograph on Paper mounted in Plexiglass -Hand signed by the artist
Category
20th Century Contemporary Red Grooms Art
Materials
Mixed Media
Charlie Chaplin
By Red Grooms
Located in Tbilisi, GE
From the rare limited edition of 75 - Original 3-D color lithograph in plexi box - Excellent condition - Hand signed by Red grooms
Category
20th Century Contemporary Red Grooms Art
Materials
Lithograph
Museum
By Red Grooms
Located in New York, NY
Museum, 1978
Signed and numbered
Lithograph
Sheet: 10 x 23 inches
Frame: 15.25 x 28.75 inches
Edition 38 of 150
Category
1970s Red Grooms Art
Materials
Lithograph
Mr. Universe
By Red Grooms
Located in New York, NY
Mr. Universe, 1990
painted bronze, ed. 5 of 9
31 1/4 x 14 3/4 x 14 3/4 in.
79.38 x 37.47 x 37.47 cm
Category
Early 1900s Red Grooms Art
Materials
Bronze
Red Grooms art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Red Grooms art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, pink, red and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Red Grooms in lithograph, etching, monotype and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Red Grooms art, so small editions measuring 4 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Ed Ruscha, James Rosenquist, and Jim Dine. Red Grooms art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $200 and tops out at $25,000, while the average work can sell for $2,800.
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Questions About Red Grooms Art
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Red Grooms, an American painter and sculptor, is best known for his life-size Pop art, which are known as “sculpto-pictoramas.” Ruckus Manhattan is the most famous of these, created by Grooms in 1975 with help from his assistants. It includes a model of the World Trade Center that’s 30 feet tall, a swaying Brooklyn Bridge, and a 15-foot-tall Statue of Liberty. On 1stDibs, shop a selection of Red Grooms artwork from top sellers worldwide.