John Grillo for sale on 1stDibs
John Grillo 1917–2014 A leading exponent of Bay Area Abstract Expressionism during the 1940s, John Grillo was a painter, sculptor, and printmaker regarded as one the purest and most influential “action painters” on the West Coast. Though his diverse and colorful body of work ranged from abstraction to figuration, his art is considered linked in its uniquely aggressive and spontaneous approach. Grillo creates bold, fluid, gestural works such as Untitled #69 (1947) and Untitled (1949) that draw on the influence of Surrealist automatism. After moving to New York in 1948, Grillo began a series of paintings consisting of small, precisely organized colored squares, as seen in Untitled (1951) and Untitled (1959); these and other works were influenced by the color theories of Hans Hofmann, with whom he studied. Grillo’s later work was more figurative, but no less colorful, with works such as Blue Hat (1978) or Duerme (1980) recalling the Expressionism of Max Beckmann.
1947 Daliel Gallery 1960 Tanager Gallery
1961 The Howard Wise Gallery
1962 University of California, Berkeley
1964 Butler Institute of American Art
1969 Benedict Art Center
1970 Robert Dain Gallery
1973 Landmark Gallery
1982 Jean Lumbard Fine Arts
1984 Museo de Arte Moderna
2000 Aaron Gallery
1988 Provincetown Art Association
Selected Group Exhibitions 1950 The Kootz Gallery
1955 Walker Arts Center
1953 Whitney Museum of American Art
1960 Walker Art Center
1961 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1961 Yale University
1962 Dallas Museum of Fine Arts
1962 Seattle Worlds Fair
1963 Museum of Modern Art, New York
1963 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
1970 The Brooklyn Museum of Art
1973 The Oakland Museum of California
1979 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
1996 The Laguna Beach Museum
Selected Collections
The British Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum of Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art
The Brooklyn Museum of Art
Walker Art Center
Los Angeles County Museum
Butler Institute of American Art
Bundy Art Gallery Museum
Smith College Museum
Bennington College
Portland Museum
Finding the Right Abstract-prints-works-on-paper for You
Explore a vast range of abstract prints on 1stDibs to find a piece to enhance your existing collection or transform a space.
Unlike figurative paintings and other figurative art, which focuses on realism and representational perspectives, abstract art concentrates on visual interpretation. An artist may use a single color or simple geometric forms to create a world of depth. Printmaking has a rich history of abstraction. Through materials like stone, metal, wood and wax, an image can be transferred from one surface to another.
During the 19th century, iconic artists, including Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Georgiana Houghton and others, began exploring works based on shapes and colors. This was a departure from the academic conventions of European painting and would influence the rise of 20th-century abstraction and its pioneers, like Pablo Picasso and Piet Mondrian.
Some leaders of European abstraction, including Franz Kline, were influenced by the gestural shapes of East Asian calligraphy. Calligraphy interprets poetry, songs, symbols or other means of storytelling into art, from works on paper in Japan to elements of Islamic architecture.
Bold, daring and expressive, abstract art is constantly evolving and dazzling viewers. And entire genres have blossomed from it, such as Color Field painting and Minimalism.
The collection of abstract art prints on 1stDibs includes etchings, lithographs, screen-prints and other works, and you can find prints by artists such as Joan Miró, Alexander Calder and more.
