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

Stephen Basso
Nature Girl, colorful surrealist bird woman painting

About the Item

colorful surrealist image of bird woman *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)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 12.01 in (30.5 cm)Width: 12.01 in (30.5 cm)Depth: 0.99 in (2.5 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Brooklyn, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU133915701681

More From This Seller

View All
Lupo, wolf, sleeping face, mystery blacks and dark colors symbolist elements
By Audrey Anastasi
Located in Brooklyn, NY
In this series, Audrey Anastasi has shifted her focus away from naturalistic domestic settings to a dark, enigmatic, and some might say, unsettling, place. These figures could be he...
Category

2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Cooped Up, colorful painting of cats and birds in birdcage
By Stephen Basso
Located in Brooklyn, NY
colorful surrealist narrative of cats *ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical...
Category

2010s Surrealist Animal Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Trojan Cat surreal dreamlike image of small boy inside a large black cat
By Stephen Basso
Located in Brooklyn, NY
*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 imagina...
Category

1980s Surrealist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil, Linen

Lemon Winter, colorful humorous woman and dog
By Stephen Basso
Located in Brooklyn, NY
oil on linen on mounted board *ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works a...
Category

2010s Outsider Art Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Love Scorn, classical gestural abstract male nude figure, dog, blues, earth tone
By Tom Bennett
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Homage to baroque allegory, symbolic figurative realism. About Tom Bennett: With quick brushstrokes, Tom Bennett creates representational images of human figures and animals, emphas...
Category

2010s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Global Warming rich color humor art topical subject birds and human interaction
By Stephen Basso
Located in Brooklyn, NY
oil on stretched canvas signed an dated on reverse. Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic yet thought provoking narratives. His whimsical works are alive wit...
Category

2010s Neo-Expressionist Animal Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

You May Also Like

Surrealist Portrait, "Réveille Mon Amour"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind surrealist oil painting on canvas by San Diego artist, Charlene Mosley. Its dimensions are 16"x 16" x1.5". It is unframed. A ce...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Surrealist Portrait, "A Light Within, Amongst The Danger of Skin"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind original surrealist oil painting by San Diego artist, Charlene Mosley. Its dimensions are 40"x60". It comes in a thin black frame. A certificate of authentici...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Getting on a Horse 3
Located in Hudson, NY
These four paintings are in a series of 4 oil on canvas $8000.00 for the set of four. “Friends of Friends” explores a playful world where dreams and reality meld together to cre...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Their Song Welcomed the Night, " Oil Painting
Located in Denver, CO
Sara Scribner's (US based) "Their Song Welcomed the Night" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a realistic portrait of a feminine form in ...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

"The Unicorn's Garden, " Oil painting
Located in Denver, CO
Rhonda Libbey's "The Unicorn's Garden" is an original, handmade oil painting that depicts a grey unicorn in a lush garden of cat faced flowers and rollin...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

Surrealist Ocean Painting, "Jellyfish Dreams"
Located in San Diego, CA
This is a one of a kind original oil on panel surrealist painting by San Diego artist, Kelley Sutphin. Its dimensions are 16"x20"x.75. It is unframed. A...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Recently Viewed

View All