Art

Renowned artist Hunt Slonem's "Moon Walk 3" is a 10x8 deep blue oil painting with diamond dust on wood board of a contemporary abstract rabbit in his choice of antique framing. *Pai...

Ben Schonzeit Yankee Flame, from the portfolio: America: the Third Century, 1975 Collotype on wove paper Pencil signed and numbered 50/200 on the front Publisher: APC Editions, Chermayeff & Geismar Associates, Inc Printer: Triton Press 27 × 19 3/10 inches Unframed Note: this is the original hand signed and numbered collotype; not to be confused with the separate (unsigned) poster edition. This hand-signed, numbered and dated collotype in colors by photorealist pioneer artist Ben Schonzeit was created in 1975 for the portfolio America: the Third Century, commissioned by Mobil Oil Corporation in which 13 American artists, including Roy Lichtenstein, Ed Ruscha, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist and others created works celebrating America's bicentennial. Yankee Flame combines the iconic images of George Washington, Coca-Cola and the Statue of Liberty into a collaged interpretation of contemporary American life and the meaning of freedom. "Yankee Flame" is in excellent condition and never framed. It was acquired as part of the America: The Third Century full portfolio. Ben Schonzeit (b. 1942, Brooklyn, New York) is one of the original Photorealist painters and is considered to have pioneered the airbrush technique. His works often depict still life arrangements that are intentionally out of focus. He received his B.F.A. from The Cooper Union in 1964 and has since had over 50 solo exhibitions both in the United States and abroad. His paintings are held in numerous museum collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. In 1973 Nancy Hoffman introduced me to Ben Schonzeit in the backroom of her gallery on West Broadway. She had been open less than a year, and Ben was one of the artists in her original stable. His large Crab Blue It had arrived from his studio a few days earlier and was leaning against the wall. I thought at the time it was one of the most impressive, virtuosic Photorealist works I had seen. That first encounter was more than a quarter of a century ago and I have always considered it to be one of the quintessential, tour de force paintings of American Photorealism. In the early seventies one could stand on West Broadway on any pleasant, sunny weekday and see less than a dozen people on the street between the Nancy Hoffman Gallery and OK Harris Works of Art. Almost all of the SoHo galleries, such as Leo Castelli, Paula Cooper, Ward-Nasse, and Ivan Karp’s Hundred Acres, could be visited in an afternoon. At night the streets were almost deserted. With the exception of Andy Warhol, there were no art world superstars. More importantly, none of the artists expected to achieve celebrity status. That was a phenomenon of the eighties and nineties. There were a only a handful of restaurants and watering holes, such Elephant and Castle, Fanelli’s, the Spring Street Bar and Prince Street Bar. Fanelli’s closed on weekends, which was a holdover from their sweatshop clientele during lunch and ragtag group of artists in the evenings. In those early days of SoHo, the drafty, raw sweatshop spaces with their large windows, rough floors, and service elevators provided large, inexpensive living quarters and studios for many artists. Unlike today, there were no boutiques. The area was not chic and with the exception of Lowell Nesbett’s showplace, the lofts were not glamorous. Schonzeit was in the same living and working space the he now occupies when I first visited him, but SoHo was a very different time and place. When the National Endowment of the Arts recommended me to curate America 1976, which turned into one of the major visual arts projects for the Bicentennial, Ben Schonzeit was on the first list of participants I made up for the U.S. Department of the Interior. His large diptych, Continental Divide, was one of the most memorable works produced for the exhibit. I stopped by his studio four or five times while it was in progress and have visited him many times over the years. We have maintained a very cordial working relationship and friendship over the past three decades. I saw The Music Room exhibit in 1978 and realized at the time that the vigorously rendered mural sized canvases and mirror and related works represented a major catharsis in his painting. In many ways, it and the other paintings and drawings based on the same image represented a sharp, decisive break with the tenets of Photorealism, or at least the photo-replicative aspects that had been so widely heralded in America and abroad in the mid-seventies. Over the years we have continued to work together. He has been in almost all of the major exhibitions I have curated here and abroad and in almost all of the books I have written. I am familiar with his studio habits, his quiet, internalized restlessness that manifests itself in the hundreds of small, unknown drawings and watercolors, doodles on napkins during lunch, and imaginary landscapes. I also know that he would rather do a painting than think or talk about it. Over the years I have followed the shifts in his studio procedure from the monumental airbrushed fruit and vegetable paintings to the most recent bouquets of flowers and decorative paintings. Our discussions of these matters tends to lapse into a verbal shorthand at this point. The following essay is based on both my longstanding familiarity and admiration for his work and involvement with contemporary realism and figurative painting. A booklet of color xeroxes with notes made up by Schonzeit was extremely helpful. In addition to several interviews, much of the information unfolded through a lengthy series of Emails. Due to our different working habits these were composed and sent out very late at night and answered by Ben the following morning. They dealt with the specifics of many of the paintings, generalities, his background and childhood in Brooklyn, and occasional bits of art world gossip. And there were odd discoveries. Prior to discussing his witty, tongue in cheek painting of Buffalo Bill, I did not know or had long forgotten that William Cody...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Chat Noir Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 16" x 14" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique Provenance: H...

This whimsical and sophisticated painting was realized by the esteemed contemporary painter, Hunt Slonem in 2013. This piece features a lovely background in a muted sunflower yellow ...

This whimsical and sophisticated painting was realized by the esteemed contemporary painter, Hunt Slonem in 2017. Featuring a stunning background hue in a high chroma blue green, thi...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Butterflies. This piece depicts delicate butterflies in ascension placed in a wonderful rich orange landscape. Slonem...

Renowned artist Hunt Slonem's "Day Flight" is a 10x8 white and scored oil painting on wood board of contemporary abstract black and white butterflies in his choice of antique framing...

Artist: Hunt Slonem, American (1951 - ) Title: Three Deer Year: 1980 Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: AP 30 Image Size: 24 x 32 inches Size: 26 in. ...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Ascension Gold Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14" x 12" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique Provenanc...

This sophisticated modern acrylic painting was realized by the esteemed contemporary painter, Hunt Slonem in 2016. It presents a stylized bunny rabbit, rendered with loose and expres...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Tulip Perk Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14.25" x 12.25" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique Proven...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Butterflies. This piece depicts two delicate butterflies in ascension placed in a wonderful golden landscape. Slonem ...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Catelayas Series: Floral Date: 2020 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 12" x 14" Framed Dimensions: 15.25" x 17.5" Signature: Signed Edition...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: JFK Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 20" x 16" Framed Dimensions: 25" x 21" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique Provenance: Hunt S...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Heavy Metal Date: 2019 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 24.25" x 20.25" Framed Dimensions: 28.25" x 24.25" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts gestural figures of white bunnies on an Ultramarine blue background with thick use of pai...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Hound Owl Deep in the Forest Series: Owls Date: 2022 Medium: Oil on panel Unframed Dimensions: 20 x 16" Framed Dimensions: 23.5" x 19.5" Signature:...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Cindy Series: Bunnies Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 14" x 10" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique Provenance: Hunt Slonem Stu...

"Mable" is a charming yellow hued portrait of a rabbit by artist Hunt Slonem. Slonem is enamored with the long-eared small creatures, and returns to them often in his practice. "Ma...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts a black bunny painted on a vibrant green background with thick use of paint. It is housed...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Butterflies. This piece depicts a delicate assortment butterflies in ascension placed in a wonderful red, white, and ...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts gestural figures of white bunnies on a light green background with thick use of paint and...

Hunt Slonem Anaconda II, 1980 Silkscreen on Arches paper Hand signed, numbered and dated on the front and titled on the back. 29 3/4 × 21 3/4 inches Unframed With tropical animals, worldly sculptures, and vibrant textiles, Hunt Slonem’s early still lifes are filled with treasures that reflect his childhood spent traveling to faraway places. As the son of a Navy officer, Slonem moved every two or three years during his youth, living everywhere from Hawaii to Washington State to Nicaragua. “I would say my whole life could be summed up by the word exotica,” the artist has said. Slonem’s still lifes contain allusions of his various homes, including pineapples, Native American headdresses...

Hunt Slonem is considered by many to be one of the great colorists of his time and is best known for his huge Neo-Expressionist paintings. A vibrant dresser and decorator as he is pa...

In celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, Hunt Slonem’s iconic muse is revisited in timeless powder-coated aluminum. Each edition is signed, numbered, and comes with a certificate of...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's newest series, Tulips. This piece depicts gestural figure of a red and white Tulip on a light sky blue background with thick use of paint. ...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's newest series, Tulips. This piece depicts gestural figure of a red Tulip on a light cerulean blue background with thick use of paint. Inspi...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's newest series, Tulips. This piece depicts gestural figure of a red and yellow Tulip on a cerulean blue background with thick use of paint. ...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Butterflies. This piece depicts two delicate yellow butterflies in ascension placed in a wonderful silver landscape. ...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Metallurgy Series: Bunnies Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14.5" x 12.5" Signature: Signed Edition...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Anemone Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 16" x 14" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's newest series, Tulips. This piece depicts gestural figures of two red and orange Tulips on a soft lavender background with thick use of pai...

"Rover" is a small-scale rabbit portrait by renowned Neo-Expressionist Hunt Slonem. Slonem often turns to the animal kingdom for inspiration. Rabbits, ...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts a gestural figure of a black bunny on white background with thick use of paint. It is hou...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's newest series, Tulips. This piece depicts gestural figures of red and yellow Tulips on a light lavender background with thick use of paint....

In celebration of the Year of the Rabbit, Hunt Slonem’s iconic muse is revisited in timeless powder-coated aluminum. Each edition is signed, numbered, and comes with a certificate of...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects of finches. The thick use of paint is greatly recognizable as he slathers on layer after layer of oil paint with multi...

A stunning composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts gestural figures of Bunnies against a black diamond dust background. Slonem traces these b...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's newest series, Tulips. This piece depicts a gestural figure of an organ and yellow Tulip on a peach orange background with thick use of pai...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts a gestural figure of two black bunnies on a pastel-yellow background with thick use of pa...

Fresh from the studio! "Regines Black Diamonds" is a glamorous take on Hunt Slonem's famed rabbit portraits. A grouping of the long-eared, bushy-tailed...

"Teal Bunnys" is an oil painting by Hunt Slonem featuring a grouping of the titular long-eared creatures. With their shapes outlined in black oil paint on a greenish blue background,...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts a gestural figure of a black bunny on white background with diamond dust and thick use of...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Butterflies and Birds. This piece depicts gestural figures of Butterflies and Birds against a multicolor background. ...

This exquisitely textured portrait of the famed president Abraham Lincoln captures his serious yet sincere visage. Created by artist Hunt Slonem, this work comes framed in a vintage-...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts a gestural figure of a black colored bunny in thick paint on a light green background. It...

A wonderful composition of one of Slonem's most iconic subjects, Bunnies. This piece depicts a gestural figure of a black bunny on white background with diamond dust and thick use of...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Dick & Jane Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 20.5" x 16" Framed Dimensions: 26" x 21" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Untitled #11 Series: Butterflies Date: 2009 Medium: Screenprint and acrylic polymer on canvas Unframed Dimensions: 48" x 48" Framed Dimensions: 50"...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Hoot 4 Series: Birds Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14.5" x 12.5" Signature: Signed Edition: Uni...

This monotone portrait of famed starlet Marilyn Monroe is by Hunt Slonem. Rendered in shades of red oil paint, recalling Monroe's favored signature lipstick, this work comes directly...

This cool-toned work by Hunt Slonem features an often returned to subject for the artist - the butterfly. In this composition, Slonem has created an ethereal and undulating abstract ...

This metallic painting by renowned artist Hunt Slonem features a grouping of rabbits. Slonem is known for his work featuring a variety of creatures, birds, butterflies, and rabbits i...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Amy’s Owl Series: Birds Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14" x 12" Signature: Signed Edition: Uniq...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Hoot 8 Series: Birds Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14" x 12" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique ...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Tondo Series: Bunnies Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 15" x 13" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique...

Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Lincoln Series: Abe Lincoln Date: 2023 Medium: Oil on Wood Unframed Dimensions: 20" x 16" Framed Dimensions: 25" x 21" Signature: Signed Edition: ...

"Orbit" is a vibrant, large-scale oil painting by Hunt Slonem. The cobalt blue background of the composition offsets large abstract orbs and the forms of white egrets, a graceful bir...