Bernar Venet creates large-scale site-specific installations, works of avant-garde performance art and other provocative pieces that have earned him a place among France’s most significant Conceptual artists. He is also known for his abstract and figurative drawings, as well as abstract sculptures.
Venet was born in 1941 in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France as Bernard Venet. In 1958, he attended EMAP Villa Thiole in Nice and decided to pursue an artistic career. Venet moved to New York City in 1961 and started to garner recognition for his monochromatic tar paintings and coal sculptures. It was during this period that he dropped the “d” from his first name.
In 1971, Venet took a break from making art and spent some time teaching art theory at the University of Paris. He decided to resume his artistic work in 1976 and showed his work the following year at Kassel, Germany’s “documenta 6,” a contemporary art exhibition that has featured the likes of Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Willem de Kooning and others. Around this time, Venet pivoted to working with wood and created a series of reliefs called “Arcs, Angles and Straight Lines.” The National Endowment of the Arts recognized Venet with a grant in 1979.
The grant kicked off two decades of exhibitions throughout Europe, the United States, Asia and South America. To date, Venet has participated in more than 40 public sculpture exhibitions and created monumental installations in cities around the globe, including Berlin, Denver, Auckland, Geneva, Austin, Tokyo, Vancouver and more.
In 2005, the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur awarded him with the highest order of merit in France. He was also awarded the International Sculpture Center Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture in 2016. Venet’s works are held in the collections of leading museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre Pompidou.
Venet lives and works between New York City and Le Muy.
On 1stDibs, find original Bernar Venet paintings, prints, sculptures and more.
Two Arcs of 236.5° Each
By Bernar Venet
Located in London, GB
A striking example of Bernar Venet’s iconic Arc series, Two Arcs of 236.5° Each (1988) embodies the artist’s rigorous exploration of mathematical form and controlled randomness. Exec...
Steel
Price Upon Request
236.5˚ Arc x 4, Rolled Steel Sculpture by Bernar Venet
By Bernar Venet
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large indoor/outdoor welded iron sculpture by Bernar Venet circa 1990. An iconic modern art sculpture of iron with black patina, title stamped ...
Steel
Spray
By Harry Bertoia
Located in Miami, FL
TECHNICAL INFORMATION Harry Bertoia Spray 1979 (year completed) Steel wire, bronze 37 h x 13 dia in. Sold with a certificate of authenticity from the Harry Bertoia Foundation and a...
Bronze, Steel
$2,400
H 22 in W 6 in D 10 in
Hi-Beam 1 - Modern Steel Geometric Sculpture, Abstract, Signed Art
By Granville Beals
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Inspired by dance and weightlessness, Granville Beals' industrial metal sculptures are primarily about relationships. Concerned with form and abstraction, he does not merely manipula...
Metal, Steel
Bronze Table II
By Gary Magakis 1
Located in Dallas, TX
Bronze & Steel Table
Bronze, Steel
$11,500
H 98 in W 18 in D 30 in
Champagne Afternoon - Abstract Sculpture, Outdoor, Steel and Glass, 2010+
By Susan Rankin
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Like flowers in a garden, Susan Rankin’s beautiful glass columns appear to sway in the breeze. An avid gardener, Rankin has created a series of outdoor sculptures inspired by the for...
Steel
$14,500
H 55 in W 25 in D 22 in
Embrasement V - Abstract Steel Sculpture, Contemporary
By Claude Millette
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary metal floor sculpture is geometric in form. Claude Millette is internationally recognized for his distinctive, contemporary sculptures. The Quebec artist’s provoc...
Steel
Brutalist Wall Sculpture
Located in Milford, NH
A wonderful abstract brutalist welded and torch cut steel wall sculpture with many points and a burnished finish, by 20th century California artist Tony Melendy...
Metal, Steel
Bronze Table III
By Gary Magakis 1
Located in Dallas, TX
Bronze & Steel Table
Bronze, Steel
$3,050
H 33 in W 20 in D 14 in
Together Bound - Original Medium Size Abstract Organic Form Redwood Sculpture
By Joe Garnero
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Garnero’s medium of choice for his winding abstract wood sculptures is reclaimed Redwood roots, which he finds along the northern California coast. The distinct curving shapes of...
Steel
$3,480
H 19.5 in W 13.5 in D 5 in
"Random Thoughts, " Painted Steel signed by Ralph Wickstrom
By Ralph Wickstrom
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Random Thoughts" is a painted steel sculpture by Ralph Wickstrom. The sculpture consists of a circular form with a zig-zag piece within it and an additional off-shooting part on the...
Steel
$3,750
H 9 in W 20 in D 2 in
Woven Plane - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted Welded Steel Wall Sculpture
By Chris Hill
Located in Chicago, IL
This dynamic wall sculpture is created from sheets of steel, welded together in an abstract geometric pattern. Muted shades of blue, grey, purp...
Steel
$14,500
H 59 in W 16 in D 22 in
Embrasement IV - Abstract Steel Sculpture, Contemporary
By Claude Millette
Located in Bloomfield, ON
This contemporary metal floor sculpture is geometric in form. Claude Millette is internationally recognized for his distinctive, contemporary sculptures. The Quebec artist’s provoca...
Steel
$850
H 8 in W 9 in D 2.5 in
Artist Designed Signed Judaica Israeli Menorah Candelabra Sculpture Silver Plate
Located in Surfside, FL
N. Levi (signed in Hebrew and English) Menorah Done in a brutalist design with the Hebrew words "Seek the peace of jerusalem" Dimensions: 8 X 9 X 2.5 inches This appears to be silver plated as I do not see a silver standard mark or hallmark. There has been a resurgence of fine artists making Judaica, There was initial generation of the Bezalel School in Jerusalem and later Ludwig Wolpert at the Jewish Museum in New York City, whose spare, geometric, functionalist style was influenced by the Bauhaus school in particular and modernism in general, Moshe Zabari, Maxwell Chayat, in New York, Menachem Berman...
Metal, Silver
Indeterminate Line
By Bernar Venet
Located in Östermalm, Stockholms län
Unique sculpture Indeterminate Line. 1988. Rolled steel with black patina. Archives Bernar Venet, New York. Inventory no: bv88ss21 This artwork is accompanied by a certificate of a...
Steel
Sold
H 4.73 in W 19.69 in D 19.69 in
Bernar Venet Effondrement: 10 Arcs Black Patinated Steel Sculpture 2016
By Bernar Venet
Located in Paris, FR
Bernar Venet, Effondrement: 10 Arcs 2016 Steel shot with black patina. Signed and numbered “xx/27”. Edition of 27. Bernar Venet is a French conceptual artist known for his metal scu...
Steel