Bert L. Long, Jr.

"Post Rome, " Etching on Paper in Cast Bronze Frame

1990

This work is one in a series of prints conceived during Long’s fellowship in Rome. The texture and color of the background simulates a fluid substance, while the primary subject matt...

This work is one in a series of prints conceived during Long’s fellowship in Rome. It’s central feature is a profile of an abstract organic form nestled in a smooth gradient backgro...

"See Looking at See" is an acrylic painting on paper. The primary subject of this work is an abstract organic form with an eye which appears to be looking in the direction of its own physique. As the title intimates, this is perhaps commenting on the capacity of intelligent life to consider the distinction between self and other. Bert L. Long Jr., was self-taught artist, was born in 1940 in Texas, grew up the Houston’s historic Fifth Ward and received his formal education from UCLA. Following a career as a successful master chef, Long decided to devote himself entirely to art in the late 1970’s. He began to explore folk art and assemblage to create a unique body of work, attracting the attention of Jim Harithas, then Director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and artists John Alexander, Salvatore Scarpitta and James Surls. His life spanned an era of radical change in the American social climate, the influence of which can be seen clearly in his work. Long’s paintings and sculptures incorporate a high level of skill and sophisticated knowledge of art history, along with complex philosophical and social issues.  Long describes the philosophy behind his work as "a quest to help people diagnose their inner self," believing his art to be "the vehicle to help facilitate the process." “As artists we have the obligation to provide the world with art which communicates as truth. I believe that art has the power to heal our souls of their afflictions. I try to create art which helps to diagnose the prevalent conditions within our societies, hopefully providing an insightfulness which will help us all become brothers and sisters united in equality and compassion”                                       - Bert L. Long, Jr. The late Peter Marzio, former Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, said of Bert Long during the major retrospective of Long’s work at the museum: “Bert Long does not avert his gaze from that which is painful, but as [his artworks] testify, he also brings a spirit of joy and redemption to his art. We can all learn from this great artist.” Over Long’s 33-year career as a painter, sculptor, and photographer, he had several solo exhibitions at respected museums and was awarded many significant awards including the National Endowment for the Arts Grant in 1987 and the prestigious international Prix de Rome fellowship in 1990. Other notable awards of Long’s include the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts Artist of the Year Award in 2009, the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Emergency Assistance Grant in 1997, the Houston Art League Texas Artist of the Year in 1990, the NEA Visual Artists Fellowship Grant, 1987 and the Bemis Foundation Residency in 1998. His work can be seen in over 100 private and public collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Houston Museum of Fine Art, the Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, the El Paso Museum of Art, and the Instituto de Bachillerato in Spain. With a recent solo exhibition at the Houston Museum of African American Culture and an exhibition overseas which is pending featuring his work, plus interest from several national museums, Bert L. Long Jr. continues to be recognized as an important African American artist throughout Texas, nationally and internationally. Bert L. Long, Jr. "See Looking at See" 2006 Acrylic and Charcoal on Dutch Stonehenge Paper...

Faces are a recurring motif throughout Long’s extensive body of work - especially regarding eyes and mouths. This work features a misma of matter that coagulates into an image recogn...

This work, marked by thin washes of acrylic, depicts a floating figure with Long’s likeness hovering over what appear to be earthly materials below - perhaps an allusion to notions o...

Furnished with an actual hatchet, this work demonstrates Long’s initiative to merge objects with his paintings. Establishing a sculptural component brings a further sense of tactilit...

"Maritime Dream" incorporates Chantzaras' pop art style with his background in Byzantine iconographical technique. Created from pure gold leaf, the artist creates a dynamic form, whi...

"Pine Knob Shelter, Maryland, [ 39.54249, -77.60181 ]" is an original pen and ink, and acrylic wash artwork by Sarah Kaizar measuring 24"h x 30"w framed. It’s an off-beat, diverse c...

Fogón, 2015 Acrylic, chalk and pencil on paper 67.30h x 59w in Valeria Vilar received her Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Buenos Aires in 2009. In 2011, Vilar was selected to be part of the Artist Program of the University of Torcuato Di Tella, which was led by the artist Jorge Macchi. Vilar has attended multiple visual arts workshops, and in 2013, Vilar worked with the artists Elisa Estrada and Florencia Lenzi to co-found CasaPlaza – a visual arts school for children. Among her solo exhibitions are the "Fairies' Powder" at Central Gallery of Bs As Projects, 2012; “Pinopark” at Central Gallery of Projects, 2010. She has participated in several group exhibitions including “Pictorial Fantasies” at Artemisa Gallery...

Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination. In October 2023 Isabel won the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Known as the UK’s most prestigious annual open exhibition for drawing; part of the prize is a solo show at Hastings Contemporary, scheduled for 2024. Whilst Isabel always has a tale to tell for each of her images, you may or may not choose to go on the journey with her or you may indeed have a different story, one of your own that jumps off the page at you, that that you decide to follow. Artwork Details: Horse of Hope, 122x152cm, Collaged woodblock print, acrylic ink on Somerset satin paper, 2023 Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio photo credits, Isabel working, black and white shots, James Brown In Isabel's own words: Horse of Hope The world had become a sad grey place, mud, empty plains with bleak, loveless sky as far as the eye could see. It seemed that all was lost of the old world. Until one day a whisper began on the breeze, so quiet that you could hardly hear it. But it grew stronger and stronger until the trembled with the sound. 'The horse of hope is coming, the horse of hope is coming!' The horse of hope had arrived, its dainty hooves tapping along the way. Where there had been nothing but emptiness the horse trod and from its feet sprung new life and hope. The world became a lush carpet under its footsteps. Up sprang greenery, pushing its tendrils to the sky. Blue irises reached out their twisted delicate petals welcoming the new life in. Strong, dark foliage grew and grew, and with this creatures began to return from their hiding places. Out from rocks and stones they came, for there was hope once again and the world buzzed with new life. *Please note we are happy to ship this work rolled in an art tube. Whilst the work is on heavy duty art paper and mixed media, the artist is happy that the painting will be fine rolled in a tube. This is a more cost effective and environmentally sound method of shipping. Shipping via this method is free. About Isabel Rock and her work: Taking inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and Indian miniature painting Rock has developed a unique collage technique that combines bold structures with large-scale woodblock prints and intricate detailing. The subject is a grand mixture of humour, drama, hidden morals, fanciful characters, modern culture, mythical beings and fantastical situations. Rock creates a world that pulls you in and demands your attention. Quality of line is paramount, the drawings are created using a dipping pen and acrylic ink. An essential tool is a squirrel...

Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination. In October 2023 Isabel won the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Known as the UK’s most prestigious annual open exhibition for drawing; part of the prize is a solo show at Hastings Contemporary, scheduled for 2024. Whilst Isabel always has a tale to tell for each of her images, you may or may not choose to go on the journey with her or you may indeed have a different story, one of your own that jumps off the page at you, that that you decide to follow. Artwork Details: Paradise Island, 148x111.5cm, ink, acrylic paint and mixed media on paper, 2013 Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio photo credits, Isabel working, black and white shots, James Brown In Isabel's own words: Paradise island It truly was paradise on paradise island. No plastic bottles touched these shores, no human hand had exploited the rich minerals and resources of the land, no complicated administrative tasks affected the residents. The birdmen who lived there were united in one common purpose, and that was to wait for The Egg. They waited day and night in a fever of excitement, hours and days and sometimes weeks went past and they did not grow weary, this only increased their anticipation. They stretched their arms to the sky and called for The Egg to bless them by falling. Deep in the hearts of the birdmen was a thing never spoken of and rarely even aknowledged to themselves, a common secret, that when The Egg actually fell it was not as good as the anticipation of it. *Please note we are happy to ship this work rolled in an art tube. Whilst the work is on heavy duty art paper and mixed media, the artist is happy that the painting will be fine rolled in a tube. This is a more cost effective and environmentally sound method of shipping. Shipping via this method is free. About Isabel Rock and her work: Taking inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and Indian miniature painting Rock has developed a unique collage technique that combines bold structures with large-scale woodblock prints and intricate detailing. The subject is a grand mixture of humour, drama, hidden morals, fanciful characters, modern culture, mythical beings and fantastical situations. Rock creates a world that pulls you in and demands your attention. Quality of line is paramount, the drawings are created using a dipping pen and acrylic ink. An essential tool is a squirrel’s hair brush that gives incredible fine lines and was purchased on her travels in India. Born in Hammersmith, London in 1981, Rock knew her destiny was to be an artist. Studying Fine Art Printmaking at The University of Brighton and graduating with First Class Honours in 2004 she went on to do a Masters Degree at The Royal College of Art in London, continuing her studies in printmaking and drawing, graduating in 2008. Her first solo show at Bearspace Gallery in Deptford, London in April 2009 sold out and was the beginning of a career that continues to rise. Rock participated in the first ever India Art Fair represented by Art 1821...

Isabel Rock is a creator of contemporary fairy tales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, her work is an explosion of strange occurrences while a surreal narrative takes the audience on a journey into the imagination. In October 2023 Isabel won the Evelyn Williams Drawing Award at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Known as the UK’s most prestigious annual open exhibition for drawing; part of the prize is a solo show at Hastings Contemporary, scheduled for 2024. Whilst Isabel always has a tale to tell for each of her images, you may or may not choose to go on the journey with her or you may indeed have a different story, one of your own that jumps off the page at you, that that you decide to follow. Artwork Details: Tom Yum Yum, 142x121.5cm, ink, mixed media and acrylic paint on paper, 2013 Artwork Provenance: from the Artist Studio photo credits, Isabel working, black and white shots, James Brown In Isabel's own words: Tom Yum Yum Of the King prawns, the normal prawns and the shrimps, all prawns were equal when they were in the soup. There was no monarchy in the hot volcanic bubbles of the boiling tasty soup. All the prawns had regrets, some more than others. Some regretted they had spent more time with their prawn spawn, others that they had been kinder to their friends, it all seemed rather trivial now, the petty jealousies, the rivalry, the endless striving to get ahead, trying to find the best mating partner. None of it really mattered as the soupy steam engulfed them. 'We had a good time,' shouted one valiant King prawn, 'I did my best,' came a high squeak of a shrimp. 'I tried to be content with what I had, that's all that matters but it is hard when constantly bombarded with images of others success,' said a thoughtful prawn. *Please note we are happy to ship this work rolled in an art tube. Whilst the work is on heavy duty art paper and mixed media, the artist is happy that the painting will be fine rolled in a tube. This is a more cost effective and environmentally sound method of shipping. Shipping via this method is free. About Isabel Rock and her work: Taking inspiration from Japanese woodblock prints and Indian miniature painting Rock has developed a unique collage technique that combines bold structures with large-scale woodblock prints and intricate detailing. The subject is a grand mixture of humour, drama, hidden morals, fanciful characters, modern culture, mythical beings and fantastical situations. Rock creates a world that pulls you in and demands your attention. Quality of line is paramount, the drawings are created using a dipping pen and acrylic ink. An essential tool is a squirrel’s hair brush that gives incredible fine lines and was purchased on her travels in India. Born in Hammersmith, London in 1981, Rock knew her destiny was to be an artist. Studying Fine Art Printmaking at The University of Brighton and graduating with First Class Honours in 2004 she went on to do a Masters Degree at The Royal College of Art in London, continuing her studies in printmaking and drawing, graduating in 2008. Her first solo show at Bearspace Gallery in Deptford, London in April 2009 sold out and was the beginning of a career that continues to rise. Rock participated in the first ever India Art Fair represented by Art 1821...