Chrysanthemums
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Chrysanthemums Color woodcut, c. 1950's Signed lower right (see photo) Publisher: Uchida (see photo of red seal) Note: Chrysanthemums, a symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the ...
1950s Modern Art
Woodcut
Chrysanthemums
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Chrysanthemums Color woodcut, c. 1950's Signed lower right (see photo) Publisher: Uchida (see photo of red seal) Note: Chrysanthemums, a symbol of the sun, the Japanese consider the ...
Woodcut
Geal Figh 2 - textured, white, modernist, glass wall sculpture
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Glass artist Cheryl Wilson-Smith is honouring her Scottish heritage by naming this stunning new wall sculpture Geal (meaning ‘bright’) Figh (meaning ‘weave’). Paper-thin layers of wh...
Glass
A ca. 1940 Etching Titled "Tip of Manhattan" by Artist Nat Lowell
By Nat Lowell
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1940 etching of a view of the Manhattan skyline by artist Nat Lowell. Signed and titled in pencil, ca. 1940. Artworks size: 4 1/4" x 5 1/4". Arc...
Etching, Paper
Flora 10 - Renaissance Pre-Raphaelite Nude Female Floral Portraiture
Located in Brighton, GB
Flora 10 is a vibrant Digital C-Type print in an Edition of 15 in this size by contemporary photographer duo Tortora & Travezan. In this portrait of the nude female, Tortora & Trave...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Digital, Pigment
$1,125
Study for a Monument in the Heroic/Erotic/Academic/Comic Style Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This sensuous and playful scene is characteristic of Oldenburg’s printmaking ouevre: a veritable heap of women displaying various expressions of ecstasy and repose. The loose sketches were drawn directly onto the plate by the artist, a master draftsman whose erotic etchings are largely unknown. The composition is based on the drawing: Clinical Study, Towards a Heroic-Erotic Monument in the Academic/Comic Style, 1965, ball-point pen on paper, 20 x 40 in. / 60 x 101.6 cm. *This print was etched in six gorgeous inks, each in an edition of ten: take your pick of color!* Oldenburg had an interest in imaginary monuments: he famously conceptualized works such as “Ball”, an unbuilt monument conceived of in 1967 which imagined two ballcocks – the round mechanism in a toilet tank...
Etching
$3,500Sale Price|58% Off
The Lions Den
By George Stubbs
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
Circle of George Stubbs The Lions Den Oil on canvas Canvas Size 11 x 14 1/2 in Framed Size 17 x 21 in George Stubbs, one of the most celebrated animal painters of the 18th century, ...
Oil
$6,800
It's Going to be the Sunny side from now on - contemporary, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary abstract painting is by Fiona Ackerman. Vancouver-based artist Fiona Ackerman’s singularly unique visual language has attracted an international audience. Her oeuv...
Acrylic
Spring Footpath - contemporary, realism, tree, landscape, oil on board
By Ciba Karisik
Located in Bloomfield, ON
‘Spring, glorious spring’ is celebrated in all its fresh, bright colour in this delightful painting by Ciba Karisik. A path invites the viewer to wander into the woods and experience...
Oil, Board
Mobius H6 25/50 - large, smooth, black granite, abstract, outdoor sculpture
By Jeremy Guy
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This sculpture is numbered in an edition of 50 and can be purchased on a commission basis, please allow 8 - 12 weeks before shipping. The sculpture weighs about 600 lbs and different base options are available, please inquire. This Jeremy Guy Mobius sculpture is formed from black granite. The surface is like velvet to the touch; the granite is subtly flecked with copper and white. The form, a Mobius strip...
Granite, Stainless Steel
Flower Vase, Red Camellia, white plum, white daffodils and orchids
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Flower Vase, Red Camellia, white plum, white daffodils and orchids Color woodcut, c. 1950 Signed "B. Ohno" (see photo) Seal: Bakufu (see photo) Series: Flowers of the Four Seasons Ca...
Woodcut
Untitled Portrait
By Seydou Keïta
Located in New York, NY
Listing includes framing with UV Plexi ($900 value), free shipping, and a 14-day return policy. Seydou Keïta Untitled Portrait, 1952 - 1955 (00089-MA.K...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$3,700Sale Price|22% Off
SAN JACINTO
Located in Santa Monica, CA
FRANCES H. GEARHART (1869-1958) (Mt.) SAN JACINTO c. 1926 Color block print. Signed in pencil. Unknown edition but uncommon. Image 6 5/8 x 4 1/8 inches. On Gearhart's typical fibrous japan paper. Sheet 10 ½ x 5 7/8 inches. Generally fresh with her usual pinholes along right margin for printing, slight bit of discoloration in the margins Provenance: Whitmore - Print Corner, Hingham MA. Their Gearhart inventory no. They were Gearhart's principal East coast dealer in the 30's. Obtained from the Whitmore Collection’s grandson in 1995. Old Print Shop...
Woodcut
$761,061
Bord De L'Oise
By Gustave Loiseau
Located in Belgravia, London, London
Oil on canvas Canvas size: 20 x 24 inches Framed size: 28 x 32 inches Signed lower right
Canvas, Oil
$2,200
"Wedgewood" by Ben Schonzeit (Photorealist, Surreal, Still life, Flowers, Tulip)
Located in New York, NY
b. 1942, Brooklyn, NY A pioneer in the SoHo art scene of the 1960s and one of the leaders of the Photorealist movement of the 1970s, Ben Schonzeit is best know for his still life pa...
Screen
Waiting - contemporary, portrait, figurative abstract, oil on linen
By Mel Davis
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This romantic portrait of a young woman is by Canadian artist Mel Davis. The Canadian artist has developed a unique visual style that is reminiscent of the French masters of the last...
Linen, Oil
$235
A Fine, Mid-Century Modern 1950s Figure Study, Reclining Black Male Nude Model
Located in Chicago, IL
A Fine, Mid-Century Modern 1950s Drawing of a Reclining African American Male Nude Model by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). A well executed studio figure stud...
Paper, Charcoal
$7,500
Paul Newman, Sebring - Racing, Sports, Race Car Driver, Black and White Portrait
Located in Denton, TX
Paul Newman, Sebring by Al Satterwhite is a black and white portrait of the iconic actor, director, race car driver and more, dressed in his racing gear as he prepares for his upcomi...
Archival Pigment
$14,500
Horse and Rider - large, green, blue, landscape, figurative, mixed media on jute
By Peter Hoffer
Located in Bloomfield, ON
The ghostly figures of a man and horse are set against the epic backdrop of a forested landscape and atmospheric blue sky. Peter Hoffer's paintings evoke nostalgia for classical, rom...
Jute, Oil, Acrylic, Pigment
“Eyes That Are...” Porcelain cup with sgraffito detailing
Located in Miami Beach, FL
“Eyes that are..” Eyes that are at once too sharp and too wild. Seeing everything crystal clear makes the whole world blind. Makes me fill my head with clouds, Pretending these smoke...
Porcelain, Paint
La poire
Located in Dallas, TX
This is a three-plate color mezzotint. The mat dimensions are 20 x 16 inches. Signed "Schkolnyk" at lower right.
Mezzotint
One Way Ticket Please (blue balloons) - figurative, steel sculpture
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This figurative steel indoor sculpture is made by Derya Ozparlak. Derya Ozparlak has been a full-time artist since 2006 and continues to create distinctively unique sculptures. Her ...
Steel
SLOW TRAIN THROUGH ARKANSAS
Located in Portland, ME
Benton, Thomas Hart (American, 1889-1975 SLOW TRAIN THROUGH ARKANSAS. Fath . Lithograph, 1941. Edition of 250 published by Associated American Artists (A.A.A.). 9 7/8 x 12 inches (im...
Lithograph
The Draped Figure, Seated
By James Abbott McNeill Whistler
Located in Fairlawn, OH
The Draped Figure, Seated Lithograph on fine japanese paper, 1893 Signed in pencil with the butterfly (see photo) Signed in the stone with the butterfly on the sofa (see photo) Numbered: "No. 20" in pencil Printed by Thomas Way, London A beautiful impression with tonal variations in the stump work (shading) As published in: L'Estampe Originale, Paris, 1893, Album IV Edition: 107 impressions, this No. 20 There were an additonal 24 impressions printed by Way for Whistler and 20 impressions printed for the Fine Art Society, London Lacking the huge support sheet and embossed series stamp by Charpentier With the letterpress lower left: "T. Way. Imp London" The stone erased in 1904 The majority of the lifetime impressions are in public collections Condition: Excellent condition Hinges from original issuance of L'Estampe Originale verso at top as described in Spink Three hinges residue along right edge of the sheet from a later matting of the print Image size: 8 1/4 x 6 3/8 inches Sheet size: 11 3/8 x 9 1/16 inches Reference: Spink/Tadeschi 72, published edition Levy 74 Way 46 A superb Neoclassical lithograph...
Lithograph
1839-49 Joseph Nash Hand-Colored Lithograph Porch and Corridor, Ockwells, Berks
By Joseph Nash
Located in Chicago, IL
A period Joseph Nash ca. 1839-49 hand-colored lithograph on paper of Porch and Corridor, Ockwells, Berks., plate from the disbound book “The Mansions of England in the Olden Time”, f...
Lithograph, Paper
Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Geographica Ac Hydrographica Tabula
Located in New York, NY
Copper-plate engraving, hand-colored, 1608 - c.1630 and published by Joannes Jansonius, Amsterdam. Image size 15.75 x 21.19 inches (40 x 53.9 cm). A classic example of a world ma...
Engraving
$1,000Sale Price|37% Off
A Tompe l'oeil still life of hanging birds
Located in Stoke, Hampshire
English School, c. 1800 Still life of hanging birds Oil on panel Panel size - 8 x 6 in Framed size - 12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in This trompe-l'œil still life is a striking example of illusio...
Oil
Astrapia
Located in Chicago, IL
"Astrapia" Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, 2006. Available sizes: 20 x 30 in / Edition of 6 - $4,500 32 x 48 in / Edition of 6 - $10,500 40 x 60 in / Edition of 6 - $12,500 50 x 7...
Archival Pigment
VISAGE DE FEMME APPUYE SUR SA MAIN (FACE OF A WOMAN LEANING ON HER HAND)
By André Derain
Located in Portland, ME
Derain, Andre (French, 1880-1954). VISAGE DE FEMME APPUYE SUR SA MAIN (FACE OF A WOMAN LEANING ON HER HAND). Adhemar 71, BN-IFF 17. Lithograph, 1927. One of 25 copies numbered in Rom...
Lithograph
Tiger Lily
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Tiger Lily Color woodcut, 1939 Unsigned (as usual) Publisher: Takemura Hideo (active Yokohama 1926-1940) Condition: Excellent Image/sheet size: 15 3/8 x 10 7/8 inches Provenance: Robert O. Muller Estate Biography Hodo Nishimura...
Woodcut
Sagrada Dualidad I. Oil on canvas
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The works produced under the name Sacred Duality are inspired by recognizing the impermanent nature of all things and being aware that nothing is static. Appreciating that continuous...
Canvas, Oil
Gossamer
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary acrylic abstract painting is a meadow filled with flowers. The ephemeral grace and beauty of the natural world are celebrated in this pretty painting by Claudia Mc...
Acrylic, Panel
$21,500
Shifting Light Grove of 10 - contemporary, glass and steel outdoor sculpture
By Susan Rankin
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary glass outdoor sculpture was inspired by nature. The beauty of hand-blown glass rings in red, orange and yellow shines in the sunlight in this delightful outdoor sc...
Steel
Polyptych II, from the series Les Voiles. LImited Edition Color Photograph
By Uwe Ommer
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Uwe Ommer wanted to try a series that revealed less of the body using different wet veils in bright colors to create this sensual effect.This series of photographs were taken for a E...
Color, Archival Pigment
XoX Vitruvian Kiddo - sculpture, resin and paint
By Viktor Mitic
Located in Bloomfield, ON
"This indoor figurative pop art table top sculpture is made from resin. Playful, colourful and imaginative, Viktor Mitic’s latest series of unique sculptures appear to merge pop art...
Mixed Media
Simone, Painting, Coffee, Rome
Located in Santa Monica, CA
William Klein 1928-2022 Simone, Painting, Coffee, Rome, (VOGUE), 1960 Signed, titled & dated in pencil on verso Gelatin Silver Print 20 x 16 inches
Silver Gelatin
Monaco Grand Prix, 1973 - Monaco Grand Prix Formula One James Hunt
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
Monaco Grand Prix, 1973 - Monaco Grand Prix Formula One James Hunt by Slim Aarons 16 x 20" print. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. Printed Later. 'Monaco Grand Prix' is a beautiful Limited Edition Estate Stamped Digital C-Type print from 20th Century photographer Slim Aarons. A unique view from the driver's height of Formula One Grand Prix...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Digital
Untitled XII. From LenkPlay Series. Limited edition color photograph
Located in Miami Beach, FL
The exploration of the concept of play as an artistic impulse presents playful, almost "baroque-written"photographs that are the result of a repeated (recycled) notion of play. Start...
Archival Paper, Archival Pigment
'Mountain Climber' — American Modernism
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Rockwell Kent, 'Mountain Climber', wood engraving, 1933, edition 250, Burne Jones 93. Signed in pencil. A brilliant, black impression, on cream, wove Japan paper; the full sheet with margins (2 9/16 to 3 5/8 inches); slight skinning at the top sheet edge verso, where previously hinged; otherwise, in excellent condition. Archivally matted to museum standards, unframed. Image size 7 7/8 x 5 7/8 inches (200 x 149 mm); sheet size 14 x 11 1/8 inches (356 x 283 mm). Printed by Pynson Printers, New York. Distributed by The Print Club of Cleveland, Publication No. 11, 1933. Literature: 'Rockwellkentiana,' Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York, 1933. '101 of The World’s Greatest Books', edited by Spencer Armstrong, 1950. Impressions of this work are held in the following museum collections: Akron Art Institute, Burne Jones Collection, IL; Cincinnati Art Museum; Cleveland Museum of Art; Columbus Gallery of Fine Arts; Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art; Davis Museum at Wellesley College; Fine Art Museums of San Francisco; H. M. de Young Museum; Hermitage Museum; Kent Collection, NY; Library of Congress; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester; Metropolitan Museum of Art; New York Public Library; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Princeton University Library; Smithsonian American Art Museum, Spector Collection, NY; SUNY, Plattsburg. ABOUT THE ARTIST Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), though best known as a painter, graphic artist, and illustrator, pursued many careers throughout his life, including architect, carpenter, explorer, writer, dairy farmer, and political activist. Born in Tarrytown, New York, Kent was interested in art from a young age. These ambitions were encouraged by his aunt Jo Holgate, an accomplished ceramicist. Jo came to live with the family after Kent’s father passed away in 1887 and took him to Europe as a teenager, undoubtedly kindling his interest in exploring the world. Kent attended the Horace Mann School in New York City, where he excelled at mechanical drawing. His family’s financial circumstances prevented him from pursuing a career in the fine arts; however, after graduating from Horace Mann in 1900, Kent decided to study architecture at Columbia University. Before matriculating at Columbia, Kent spent the first of three consecutive summers studying painting at William Merritt Chase’s art school in Shinnecock Hills, Long Island. There he found a community of mentors and fellow students who encouraged him to pursue his interest in art. At the end of Kent’s third summer at Shinnecock, Chase offered him a full scholarship to the New York School of Art, where he was a teacher. Kent began taking night classes at the art school in addition to his architecture studies but soon left Columbia to study painting full-time. In addition to Chase, Kent took classes with Robert Henri and Kenneth Hayes Miller, where his classmates included the artists George Bellows and Edward Hopper. Kent spent the summer of 1903 assisting the eccentric painter Abbott Handerson Thayer at his studio in Dublin, New Hampshire—a position he secured through the recommendation of his Aunt Jo. Thayer’s naturalist lifestyle and almost mystical appreciation for natural phenomena greatly influenced Kent; he returned to Dublin for many years to visit Thayer and his family. Thayer gave the young artist time to pursue his work, and that summer Kent painted several views of the New Hampshire landscape, including Mount Monadnock. In 1905 Kent moved from New York to Monhegan Island in Maine, home to a summer art colony, where he continued to find inspiration in nature. Kent soon found success exhibiting and selling his paintings in New York, and in 1907, he was given his first solo show at Claussen Galleries. The following year he married his first wife, Kathleen Whiting (Thayer’s niece), with whom he had five children. The couple divorced in 1924, and Kent married Frances Lee the following year. They divorced after 15 years of marriage, and the artist married Sally Johnstone. For the next several decades, Kent lived a peripatetic lifestyle, settling in several locations in Connecticut, Maine, and New York. During this time he took several extended voyages to remote, often ice-filled, corners of the globe, including Newfoundland, Alaska, Tierra del Fuego, and Greenland, to which he made three separate trips. For Kent, exploration and artistic production were twinned endeavors, and his travels to these rugged, elemental locations inspired his visual art and his writings. He developed a stark, realist landscape style in his paintings and drawings that revealed both nature’s harshness and its sublimity. Kent’s human figures, which appear sparingly in his work, often allude to the mythic themes of isolation, individualism, heroism, and the quest for self-connection. Important exhibitions of works from these travels include the Knoedler Gallery’s shows in 1919 and 1920, featuring Kent’s Alaska drawings...
Woodcut
The Couch Potato
Located in Greenwich, CT
The Couch Potato is a lithograph on paper, initialed lower right 'BD' and numbered lower left, 7.25 x 9" image size. From the edition of 395, numbered IV/C (there were also 275 Arabi...
Paper, Lithograph
The Journals of Susanna Moodie 57/100 - original, illustrated book of poems
Located in Bloomfield, ON
A rare and original illustrated boxed folio of The Journals of Susanna Moodie, arguably Margaret Atwood’s finest work of poetry. In it, she adopts the ...
Archival Paper
Flute Majestique
By Erté
Located in New York, NY
A pair of remarkably elegant, fine crystal champagne flutes, titled “Flute Majestique,” as designed by the Father of Art Deco - Erté (Romain de Tirtoff), each bearing his etched sig...
Glass
Choice I - In Celebration of Pride Month
By Radek Husak
Located in New Orleans, LA
Stone and Press Gallery is excited to offer several works in celebration of the LGBTQ community. Radek Husak, a contemporary process-driven mixed media artist, was born in Poland i...
Pencil, Pigment
New England Skiing, New Hampshire, 1955 - Winter Fashion in Snowy Landscape
By Slim Aarons
Located in Brighton, GB
New England Skiing, New Hampshire, 1955 - Winter Fashion in Snowy Landscape by Slim Aarons 16" x 16" image on 16" x 20" paper. Limited Edition Estate Stamped Print. Edition of 150. ...
C Print, Color, Photographic Paper, Digital
Arcadia
Located in New York, NY
As a direct carver, Goulet would take her material as-is and begin to work without making any preparatory studies or maquettes. In Arcadia, the artist was able to uncover a loving co...
Marble
$750
A Unique, 1930s Modern Table Top Still-Life Painting by Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A unique, contemplative 1930s Modern table top still-life painting featuring a spoon, egg and an artichoke by famed Chicago artist, Francis Chapin. Image size: 11 1/4 x 15 1/4 inc...
Masonite, Oil
Butterfly and Heart
By Damien Hirst
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Butterfly and Heart Drawing in black felt pen over color screenprint 'spot' composition Signed in full (bottom edge) and dedicated (top edge) Dedicated by the artist Annotated in fe...
Ink
Japanese Kimono Fabric Design — Vintage Color Woodblock Print
Located in Myrtle Beach, SC
Anonymous, Japanese Kimono Fabric Design, color woodcut, c. 1930. A superb impression, with fresh colors, fine graduations, and metallic gold motifs, on ...
Woodcut
$40,000Sale Price|20% Off
Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake
Located in Plano, TX
Fly Fishing, Saranac Lake. 1889. Etching, aquatint and burnishing. Goodrich 104. 14 1/4 x 20 5/8; sheet 18 1/2 x 24 1/2. Edition unknown but quite possibl...
Etching
Saudi Arabia, From the Mani- Cartes Postales series.
By Uwe Ommer
Located in Miami Beach, FL
This series of photographs were taken for a European calendar. The idea was to create postcards with several countries on different continents, in the images the artist decided to cl...
Color, Archival Pigment
$172Sale Price|35% Off
An Alluring 1950s, Mid-Century Modern Figure Study of a Young Female Nude Model
Located in Chicago, IL
An Alluring, Finely Drawn 1950s Mid-Century Modern Female Nude Figure Study by Notable Chicago Artist, Harold Haydon (Am. 1909-1994). Ink on paper, dating from 1951. Artwork size: ...
Paper, Ink
Paris, Avenue du bois by Jean Dufy - Oil painting, Figurative art, City scene
By Jean Dufy
Located in London, GB
*PLEASE NOTE UK BUYERS WILL ONLY PAY 5% VAT ON THIS PURCHASE. Once an order is placed we will arrange the VAT of 20% to be reduced to 5% Paris, Avenue du bois by Jean Dufy (1888-196...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled Abstraction
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Abstrraction Gouache, watercolor and pigments on paper, c. 1960 Signed lower right in pencil (see photo) Image: 17 x 22 inches Sheet: 25 1/4 x 29 3/4 inches Frame: 25 1/4 x ...
Watercolor
Billie Holiday, New York City
$1,800Sale Price|28% Off
A Colorful, Vintage 1950s Mid-Century Modern Martha's Vineyard Harbor Scene
Located in Chicago, IL
A vibrant, colorful harbor scene of Martha's Vineyard by notable Chicago Modern artist, Francis Chapin (Am. 1899-1965). Depicting a blustery dockside view with fishing and sailboats...
Canvas, Oil
Lino Litho BR, Planche IX
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Lino Litho BR, Planche IX Linocut and lithograph, 1970 Signed lower right of central image (see photo) Edition: 99 (56/99) (see photo) Published by London Arts Group, Detroit Conditi...
Linocut
$800Sale Price|36% Off
Returning to the Stable.
Located in Plano, TX
Returning to the Stable. 1920. Drypoint. Appleby 64. 8 3/4 x 12 1/4 (sheet 11 7/16 x 16 1/8). Edition 100. A rich impression printed on cream laid paper wi...
Drypoint, Etching
After Constable's "Elm"
By Lucian Freud
Located in New York, NY
Lucian Freud After Constable's "Elm" 2003 Etching on Somerset Textured White paper 18 7/8 x 15 inches; 48 x 38 cm Edition of 46 Initialed and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Published by Matthew Marks Gallery...
Etching
$29,000
Summer Window - large, bright, colourful, yellow, abstract, acrylic on canvas
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Washes of sun yellow are edged in dashes of bright colors - mauve, cerise, lime and rust -- in this monumental color-field canvas by Milly Ristvedt. "Summer Window" from 1973 was cr...
Canvas, Acrylic
Fleurs Sur la Table by Bernard Buffet
Located in New York, NY
Artist: Bernard Buffet Medium: Lithograph on Arches, 1988 Dimensions: 29.75 x 22.75 in, 75.6 x 57.8 cm
Lithograph
Mobius H8 Painted Black Stainless Steel - contemporary, abstract, sculpture
By Jeremy Guy
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This large outdoor abstract sculpture by Jeremy Guy is hand-forged from stainless steel and finished in a glossy black. The striking elegant curves of Guy’s contemporary sculptures g...
Stainless Steel
Whether growing your current fine art collection or taking the first steps on that journey, you will find an extensive range of original photography, drawings, prints, sculptures, paintings and more on 1stDibs.
Visual art is among the oldest forms of expression, and it has been evolving for centuries. Beautiful objects can provide a window to the past or insight into our current time. Art collecting enhances daily life through the presence of meaningful work. It displays an appreciation for culture, whether a print by Elizabeth Catlett channeling social change or a narrative quilt by Faith Ringgold.
Contemporary art has lured more initiates to collecting than almost any other category, with notable artists including Yayoi Kusama, Marc Chagall, Kehinde Wiley and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Navigating the waiting lists for the next Marlene Dumas, Jeff Koons or Jasper Johns has become competitive.
When you’re living with art, particularly as people more often work from home and enjoy their spaces, it’s important to choose art that resonates with you. While the richness of art with its many movements, styles and histories can be overwhelming, the key is to identify what is appealing and inspiring. Artwork can play with the surrounding color of a room, creating a layered approach. The dynamic shapes and sizes of sculptures can set different moods, such as a bronze by Miguel Guía on a mantel or an Alexander Calder mobile suspended over a table. A wall of art can evoke emotions in an interior while showing off your tastes and interests. A salon-style wall mixing eclectic pieces like landscape paintings with charcoal drawings is a unique way to transform a space and show off a collection.
For art meditating on the subconscious, investigate Surrealists like Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí. Explore Pop art and its leading artists such as Andy Warhol, Rosalyn Drexler and Keith Haring for bright and bold colors. Not only did these artists question art itself, but also how we perceive society. Similarly, 20th-century photography and abstract painting reconsidered the intent of art.
Abstract Expressionists like Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner and Color Field artists including Sam Gilliam broke from conventional ideas of painting, while Op artists such as Yaacov Agam embraced visual trickery and kinetic movement. Novel visuals are also integral to contemporary work influenced by street art, such as sculptures and prints by KAWS.
Realist portraiture is a global tradition reflecting on what makes us human. This is reflected in the work of Slim Aarons, an American photographer whose images are at once candid and polished and appeared in Holiday magazine and elsewhere. Innovative artists Mickalene Thomas and Kerry James Marshall are now offering new perspectives on the form.
Collecting art is a rewarding, lifelong pursuit that can help connect you with the creative ways historic, modern and contemporary artists have engaged with the world. For more tips on piecing together an art collection, see our guide to buying and displaying art.
Find photography, drawings, paintings, prints and other art for sale on 1stDibs.