Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 4

William Nelson
5th Avenue and Broadway

2022

$22,500
£17,089.30
€19,743.79
CA$31,534.56
A$35,293.11
CHF 18,420.29
MX$430,393.97
NOK 235,754.63
SEK 223,171.95
DKK 147,345.31
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intriguing narratives. In this exhibition, Nelson takes us on a tour of New York City and beyond, revisiting icons of film, pop culture, and architecture as he merges illustration and portraiture in his signature style. In a painting titled 51st and Lex, Audrey Hepburn as seen in Breakfast at Tiffany’s reclines with effortless elegance along the bottom edge of the painted picture frame, set in black-and-white glory against a richly colored background depicting the 1931 General Electric Building’s Gothic Revival crown. A nod to the Lexington Avenue landmark’s origins takes the form of lightning dancing in the midnight blue sky. The skyscraper’s pinnacle is framed by a large circle and bordered by a pastiche of Art Deco-styled stained glass, and comic-book-inspired gargoyles. Each of the canvases in this exhibition are similarly dense with references—constructivist both in their creation and their interpretation, unique to the individual experiencing the work and their personal histories. Nelson’s own history plays a role in his visual repertoire, recalling his childhood spent devouring the Sunday comics, and frequently visiting the movie theater to escape the Florida heat. His avid consumption of the images surrounding him—drawings, films, the sculptural elements of the landscape and built environment further expanded when he moved to New York City as a young adult. Today these images and memories come together as Nelson sets the stage in each work, bringing disparate characters together with a vibrancy that commands our attention much in the same way as the big screen has always captured his own. William Nelson graduated from the School of Visual Arts, in New York City in 1993, and has since exhibited in notable contemporary institutions throughout the country. His work has been showcased at prestigious art fairs such as Art Miami, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, The Palm Beach Show, and Art New York, as well as annual exhibitions with Cavalier Galleries in New York, Greenwich, Nantucket, and Palm Beach.
  • Creator:
    William Nelson (1961, American)
  • Creation Year:
    2022
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 60 in (152.4 cm)Width: 60 in (152.4 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Greenwich, CT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU18110928272

More From This Seller

View All
Lower Manhattan
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intri...
Category

2010s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

East Village
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intri...
Category

2010s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

51st and Lex
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intri...
Category

2010s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Ambassador Hotel
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intri...
Category

2010s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bryant Park
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intri...
Category

2010s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Springfield
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich with symbolism, history, and intri...
Category

2010s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Broadway - Marc Ferrero -
Located in Saint Ouen, FR
Broadway - Marc Ferrero Hand signed and numbered lithograph out of 30 50x70cm Circa 2015
Category

2010s Figurative Prints

Materials

Lithograph

Off Broadway, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
Artist Carey Parks shares a striking viewpoint of a busy day at an urban crosswalk. She illustrates numerous people hurriedly cross...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist More Art

Materials

Acrylic

NYC Study #48
By David Leonard
Located in Fairfield, CT
The primary subjects of my paintings are 21st century man's working monuments, which represent our culture's dedication to production and consumption. The essence of our way of life ...
Category

2010s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

NYC Study #48
$480 Sale Price
20% Off
25th Street
Located in Salt Lake City, UT
25th Street, by Elise Zoller, 24 x 30 in. oil on panel. Elise Zoller has recently embarked on a series of plein air paintings of sites around Salt Lake City and in the smaller towns of Utah from Hurricane to Huntsville. She has enjoyed meeting people along the road and learning about the history of the state. “Plein air work can be physically demanding, but there is no substitute for working from life. Light and shadow dance in subtle ways a photograph cannot capture. Even the wind and the fragrances it carries inform the work. Scenes come alive when you stand in one place for a few hours. You’ve got to get to know a spot,” Elise says. “While I work, all manner of people come up and talk to me about their towns and their lives. I’ve met a downwinder from Enterprise, pie bakers in Veyo, pony cart...
Category

2010s Other Art Style Paintings

Materials

Linen, Birch, Oil

Broadway
Located in Toronto, ON
32" x 22" Unframed Artist's Proof Serigraph Hand Signed by Melanie Taylor Kent 1990
Category

1990s Figurative Prints

Materials

Screen

Canal Street
By Nicholas Evans-Cato
Located in Fairfield, CT
Brooklyn based artist Nicholas Evans-Cato draws his inspiration from the continually changing landscape of New York City. He has stated: “These perspectives are an effort to exploit ...
Category

2010s Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil