2014
Hunt Slonem has mastered the art of repetition in his exuberant Neo-Expressionist paintings. Some of his favorite subjects are bunnies, butterflies and the tropical birds that live in the private aviary nestled within his 30,000-square-foot studio complex in Brooklyn, New York.
“I believe in repetition like a holy mantra or rosary,” Slonem told Introspective, referring to his artistic method. “I am slightly influenced by Pop art, like the repetition of soup cans, postage stamps and celebrities. It’s something I have been doing my whole life.”
Slonem’s depictions of birds — which are often rendered in thick, gestural brushstrokes and arranged in a loose grid — owe to a fascination with tropical avian life that he developed during a childhood spent in Hawaii and Nicaragua. Today, along with the aviary, his studio contains a personal garden, a collection of antiques and walls and walls of artworks.
“I am a collector of things. My primary focus is color and objects. I love to make them work in a space,” Slonem says. “Sometimes I define a space with color.”
Besides birds, Slonem has painted so many bunnies that they’ve become a signature. Limned in expressive, urgent strokes on flat, vibrantly colored backgrounds, these creatures fascinate through their subtle variations. “I have painted hundreds of rabbits, but each one is different,” the artist has explained. “Each has its own personality, and it just comes through me.”
The multitalented Slonem also sculpts, makes prints, creates installations and restores historic spaces. His work has achieved cult status among collectors and is represented in the permanent collections of such esteemed institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Slonem has even made an appearance on Real Housewives of New York.
Find original Hunt Slonem paintings, prints and other art for sale on 1stDibs.
Hunt Slonem "Society Finches 2" Birds
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Society Finches 2 Date: 2025 Medium: Oil on wood Unframed Dimensions: 10" x 8" Framed Dimensions: 14.25" x 12.25" Signature: Signed by Artist on Ve...
Oil
Price Upon Request
H 48 in W 48 in
Hunt Slonem, Multi-colored Bird Oil painting, 'Finches'
By Hunt Slonem
Located in White Plains, NY
'Finches' by Hunt Slonem, 2022. Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 in. This painting features Slonem's signature finches in white, red, blue, and green on a white background. Considered one of the great colorists of his time, Slonem’s neo-expressionist paintings feature an exuberant and bold, fauvist palette to emphasize his beloved menagerie of animals. Through the application of lavish, lush colors, Slonem’s painterly style continues to be fresh and innovative bordering on Pop Art aesthetics. Depicting his signature motifs of repeating whimsical animal imagery, the artist’s devotion to nature and its inhabitants are apparent. Born in Kittery, Maine in 1951, Hunt Slonem graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Painting and Art History from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Slonem later attended the prestigious Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, where he was exposed to influential artists from the New York area including Alex Katz, Alice Neel, Richard Estes, Jack Levine, Louise Nevelson and Al Held. This exposure played a pivotal role in Slonem’s artistic career, as it aided in his decision to move to New York in 1973. Since 1977, Slonem has had over 250 solo exhibitions at prestigious galleries. Museums, both domestic and international, have collected his work, among them Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Whitney, the Miro Foundation, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. His work has been exhibited globally, including in Madras, Quito, Venice, Gustavia, San Juan, Guatemala City, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Stockholm, Oslo, Cologne, Tokyo, and Hong Kong. His work has been shown in thirty-one different museums including the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1981; the Museo Diocesano d'arte sacra Sant'Apollonia in Venice, Italy, in 1986; the Albany Museum of Art in Albany, Georgia, in 2007; the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art in Istanbul, Turkey, in 2007; Museo de Arte de El Salvador in San Salvador...
Canvas, Oil
Parrots Play
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Woodmere, OH
Hunt Slonem (b. 1951) is an internationally celebrated American artist whose vibrant and instantly recognizable works have made him one of the most collectible contemporary painters ...
Canvas, Oil
$30,500
H 40 in W 30 in
Hunt Slonem "Blue Finches (Cordon Bleau)" Original painting of birds in oil
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Blue Finches (Cordon Bleau) Date: 2025 Medium: Oil on canvas Unframed Dimensions: 40" x 30" Signature: Signed Edition: Unique Hunt Slonem is an in...
Oil
Hunt Slonem "Cardinal" painting of birds
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Cardinal Date: 2026 Medium: Oil on wood Unframed Dimensions: 17.5" x 13.5" Framed Dimensions: 24" x 20" Signature: Signed by Artist on Verso Editio...
Oil
Hunt Slonem "Pair" painting of birds on canvas
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Pair Date: 2025 Medium: Oil on canvas Unframed Dimensions: 12" x 9" Signature: Signed by Artist on Verso Edition: Unique Hunt Slonem is an interna...
Oil
Rosella Picul
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
“Rosella Picul” highlights Hunt Slonem’s enduring interest in exotic birds, interpreted through his signature textural technique. Layers of vibrant color are partially veiled by a rh...
Oil
Hunt Slonem "Grass Keets Blues" Birds
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Boston, MA
Artist: Slonem, Hunt Title: Grass Keets Blues Date: 2024 Medium: Oil on wood Unframed Dimensions: 13" x 11" Framed Dimensions: 15" x 13" Signature: Signed by Artist on Verso E...
Oil
$25,000
H 24 in W 36 in
Hunt Slonem, "Finches on Gold", 24x36 Colorful Textured Bird Oil Painting
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Saratoga Springs, NY
Renowned artist Hunt Slonem's "Finches on Gold" is a 24x 36 colorful gold background oil painting on wood board of contemporary abstract finches in blue, yellow, green, red, pink, an...
Oil, Board
2nd Field Hummingbirds
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Woodmere, OH
Hunt Slonem (b. 1951) is an internationally celebrated American artist whose vibrant and instantly recognizable works have made him one of the most collectible contemporary painters ...
Wood, Oil
Migration
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Hunt Slonem, American, included in 250+ museum collections Unique oil on canvas painting, signed and dated verso Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned fo...
Canvas, Oil
Guardians & Butterflies Savior
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Hunt Slonem, American, included in 250+ museum collections Unique oil on canvas painting, signed and dated verso Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned fo...
Gold Leaf
Tiger Swallowtails
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Hunt Slonem, American, included in 250+ museum collections Unique oil on canvas painting, signed and dated verso Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned fo...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Kristine Moran, oil on wood panel, signed and dated verso
Oil, Wood Panel
White Ascension House of God
By Hunt Slonem
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Hunt Slonem, American, included in 250+ museum collections Unique oil on canvas painting, signed and dated verso Inspired by nature and his 60 pet birds, Hunt Slonem is renowned fo...
Gold Leaf
Turn A Blind Eye, Flock
By Tim Berg & Rebekah Myers
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Tim Berg & Rebekah Myers, handmade, 40 ceramic birds atop maple perches - affixes flat to the wall Our objective is to distill the stereotypical perceptions ...
Ceramic, Maple
