Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Stephen Basso
Hat in the Ring, Fashion themed pastel on archival paper with shoes, mirror

2016

About the Item

*ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagination, wry wit and fearless color. His shrewd social observations often translate into eerily humorous figurative scenes and narratives. Mr. Basso’s works evoke a high level of inquiry. The fanciful, yet keenly observed characters are unpredictable and evocative. The viewer vacillates between surprise, delight, and consternation. A Brooklyn native, much of Basso's wildly imaginative artwork was inspired by travel to Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and especially Mexico. Basso is particularly drawn to Latin American art, channeling its mix of Western and African influences and imagery into his vibrant, often surrealistic work. Combining a New York and a Mexican sensibility, he says of his work, "There is a natural surreal quality to Mexico that can collide with its harsh realities. One might call it bittersweet. It is often bawdy, but rarely vulgar, and images are everywhere. Love, hate, fear desire and of course, humor, never go out of style.” And he adds, " I like mixing high ideals with American irreverence." The elements of mystery, escapism, and humor blended with reality define his art. It is of a personal nature consisting of a cast of characters that inhabit the stage between the extreme highs and lows of life, a state of limbo where dreamlike scenarios are often pulled back to the reality of daily existence. Of his process, Mr. Basso says, "The paintings and drawings begin with objects around my home and studio, photos from various sources, and people I know, have known, or have yet to meet." By in large, Basso is self taught. (After initially attending the School of Visual Arts for Illustration, he realized painting was more engaging for him.) Seeking emotional honesty, he looked to the work of several "mentors": Max Beckmann, Francisco Goya, Willem de Kooning , Philip Guston , Marsden Hartley and Albert Pinkham Ryder - artists that spoke to the human condition.
  • Creator:
    Stephen Basso (1953, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2016
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 27 in (68.58 cm)Width: 19 in (48.26 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU133915701321

More From This Seller

View All
Lacy Grey, semi nude mixed media muted tones lace charcoal
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Charcoal, pastel lace Audrey Anastasi states: "The paper doll series was created first in the presence of a live model, working quickly, in charcoal an...
Category

2010s American Modern Mixed Media

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel, Fabric, Archival Paper

Red Pillow, mixed media pastel acrylic charcoal drawing of female figure, nude
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These recently discovered 1984 oversize pastels on archival papers were created with a live model, working quickly, mostly in pastel. The series show...
Category

1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Archival Paper, Pastel

Figure by Window, graphite, pastel, mylar, paper layered drawing, female, nude
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This feminist work of a nude gazing directly at the viewer, features graphite on mylar over cut paper, aligned to amplify the forms while maintaining the delicacy of the drawing. These recently discovered 1984 oversize works on mylar and archival papers were created with a live model. The series shows the last existing observational drawings prior to the artist's switch to working with her non- dominant left hand. As a feminist, Anastasi's main focus is presenting other women. Unlike the often objectified male gaze...
Category

1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mylar, Pastel, Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Reclining nude, female figure pastel drawing on oversize black paper, colorful
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These recently re-discovered 1984 oversize pastels on archival papers were created working quickly, in pastel. The series shows the last existing obs...
Category

2010s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Mixed Media, Archival Paper

Studio Figure, pastel drawing of female figure, nude
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These recently discovered 1984 oversize pastels on archival papers were created with a live model, working quickly, in pastel. The series shows the l...
Category

1980s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pastel

Jane, pastel drawing of female figure, nude
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
These recently discovered 1984 oversize pastels on archival papers were created with a live model, working quickly, in pastel. The series shows the l...
Category

2010s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Mixed Media, Archival Paper, Pastel

You May Also Like

'Portrait of a Young Navajo', Native American, Arizona, California Woman artist
By Victoria Creech Stewart
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower left 'Creech PSWC' and created circa 1975 A compelling pastel study showing the subject dressed in brightly-colored ceremonial robes and gazing past the viewer. An eleg...
Category

1970s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Pastel, Archival Paper

"Pink Cheeks" American Modernist Robert Gilberg 1950 Ink and Pastel Nude Drawing
By Robert Gilberg
Located in Arp, TX
Robert Gilberg (1911-1970) "Pink Cheeks" c.1950s Ink and pastel on paper 12"x13.75" unframed Unsigned Good Condition - Wear consistent with age and history. Deep creases on upper le...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Ink, Paper, Pastel

Untitled-053 Pastel Figure by Hans Burkhardt
By Hans Burkhardt
Located in Hudson, NY
Hans Burkhardt regularly used live models for his figural pastels, which he maintained an interest in throughout his long career. Untitled (1963) Pastel on paper 24" x 19" Signed an...
Category

1960s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

Untitled-055 Pastel Figure by Hans Burkhardt
By Hans Burkhardt
Located in Hudson, NY
Hans Burkhardt frequently used live models for his figural pastels, which he maintained an interest in throughout his long career. Untitled (1972) Pastel on paper 25" x 20" Signed a...
Category

1670s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Pastel

A ca. 1954, drawing of a Notre Dame Football Game by Artist Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
A ca. 1954 pastel & charcoal on paper drawing of a Notre Dame football game by artist Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 12" x 19". Archivally matted ...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

A Pastel & Charcoal on Paper Drawing of a Hockey Game by Francis Chapin
By Francis Chapin
Located in Chicago, IL
For your hockey enthusiast! A ca. 1950s, pastel & charcoal on paper drawing of a hockey game by artist Francis Chapin. Artwork size: 9" x 12". Matted to: 14" x 18". Provenance: Estate of the artist. Francis Chapin, affectionately called the “Dean of Chicago Painters” by his colleagues, was one of the city’s most popular and celebrated painters in his day. Born at the dawn of the 20th Century in Bristolville, Ohio, Chapin graduated from Washington & Jefferson College near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1922. He would set down deep roots at the Art Institute of Chicago, exhibiting there over 31 times between 1926 and 1951. In 1927 Chapin won the prestigious Bryan Lathrop Fellowship from the Art Institute – a prize that funded the artist’s yearlong study trip to Europe. Upon his return to the United States, Chapin decided to remain in Chicago, noting the freedom Chicago artists have in developing independently of the pressure to conform to pre-existing molds (as was experienced by artists in New York, for example). Chapin became a popular instructor at the Art Institute, teaching there from 1929 to 1947 and at the Art Institute’s summer art school in Saugatuck, Michigan (now called Oxbow) between 1934 – 1938 (he was the director of the school from 1941-1945). Chapin’s contemporaries among Chicago’s artists included such luminaries as Ivan Le Lorraine Albright...
Category

1950s American Modern Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Materials

Paper, Charcoal, Pastel

Recently Viewed

View All