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

William Nelson
51st and Lex

2022

$22,500
£16,707.42
€19,622.04
CA$31,303.78
A$35,047.75
CHF 18,376.68
MX$433,036.67
NOK 231,557.63
SEK 218,581.17
DKK 146,404.48
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: LU18110928442

More From This Seller

View All
5th Avenue and Broadway
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

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

Munich
By William Nelson
Located in Greenwich, CT
Signed "William Nelson" verso William Nelson’s latest body of work, titled Pretty, Desirable, Delightful, Dangerous, invites us into a dynamic world of glamour and mystery, rich wit...
Category

2010s Portrait 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

You May Also Like

Untitled
By Felix Mas
Located in Greenwich, CT
Untitled is an oil on canvas painting with a canvas size of 59 x 75.5 inches, signed 'felix mas' upper right, unframed. Spanish artist Felix Mas has a rare gift for capturing his vi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

That Day
By Greg Miller
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Contextually within the framework of postmodern Neo-pop and Post-pop, Miller utilizes a semiotic process of mining familiar pictorial codes from the popular culture of his youth for ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Acrylic

24th and Aspen
By Justin Wheatley
Located in Denver, CO
24th and Aspen, 2018
Category

21st Century and Contemporary More Art

Materials

Acrylic

Modern
By Greg Miller
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Contextually within the framework of postmodern Neo-pop and Post-pop, Miller utilizes a semiotic process of mining familiar pictorial codes from the popular culture of his youth for ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Canvas, Paper, Acrylic

El Acuerdo
Located in Miami, FL
El Acuerdo is a striking original painting by contemporary artist Luis Martinez, known for his emotionally evocative and symbolically rich works. This piece captures a moment of inti...
Category

2010s Paintings

Materials

Oil

Midtown
By Mary Lum
Located in New York, NY
Acrylic and photo fragments on paper
Midtown
Price Upon Request