The drawings by artist Robert Longo are a sensory experience: They are monumental, detailed and hard-hitting in their subject matter, which often includes critiques of power, social unrest and consumer capitalism.
Longo has spent his career exploring mediums as varied as the Photorealistic charcoal drawings for which he is best known and film direction. In all of his work, however, he draws inspiration from his deep background in sculpture. “I always think that drawing is a sculptural process. I always feel like I’m carving the image out rather than painting the image. I’m carving it out with erasers and tools like that,” he once said.
The Long Island, New York, native attended high school with a man who was shot at Kent State University while protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War in 1970, and the famous image of this man lying dead on the ground influenced Longo so deeply that he began to consider all art political. Longo attended Buffalo State College, where he met and became friends with artist Cindy Sherman, and later the two moved to New York City together.
Longo’s revered work includes his charcoal and graphite “Men in the Cities” drawings. The Photorealist series, which debuted at Metro Pictures gallery in Manhattan in 1981, depicted people in formal business clothing. Posing in suspended animation in unusual contortions, the figures take on a choreographic quality and represent the career-minded “yuppies” of the era.
“Men in the Cities” was inspired by punk rock music and decades later has been cited as a visual reference for the opening sequence of the popular television drama Mad Men. The work was among the most recognizable and iconic of the Pictures Generation — the movement by artists who came of age in the 1970s and were disillusioned by the social and political conditions of the time. In 2014, Longo created 12 charcoal drawings for a series titled “Gang of Cosmos,” which were black-and-white depictions of famous Abstract Expressionist works by artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner.
Through his provocative, detailed and highly precise prints, drawings, photography and sculpture, Longo continues to challenge traditional sources of power and authority.
Find original Robert Longo art on 1stDibs.
Robert Longo, Black Palms - Lithograph from 1989, Signed Print
By Robert Longo
Located in Hamburg, DE
Robert Longo (American, born 1953) Black Palms, 1989 Medium: Lithograph on rag paper Dimensions: 169 x 127 cm (66½ x 50 in) Edition of 35: Hand-signed and numbered Condition: Excellent
Lithograph
Floater
By Don Ed Hardy
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 20. Don Ed Hardy’s lithographs, created in the spring of 2007, continue the “look” of his Ghost Writer painting series which has been developed over the past five years. They are evocative of ancient Chinese stone rubbings, or x-rays. Both prints refer to earlier images from Japanese art history. Floater, a meditating skeleton poised above surging waves, was done from memory after a 19th century Japanese painting...
Lithograph
$1,100
H 9.75 in W 7.5 in D 0.75 in
Two Columns (framed): colorful pop art abstracted Greek pillars Micheal Hurson
By Michael Hurson
Located in New York, NY
Pop art scene of abstracted Greek pillars and green leaves. Drawings in black and white, pale blue, red and grey compose this colorful print. Layers of p...
Lithograph, Screen
$3,500
H 28.75 in W 34.5 in
Hand-signed "Local" lithograph by Red Grooms from the 1971 "No Gas" portfolio
By Red Grooms
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"Local" lithograph by Red Grooms from the 1971 "No Gas" portfolio. Hand-signed AP Red Grooms in policeman's left shoe in bottom lower right of image. Depicts people on subway.
Lithograph
Samurai
By Red Grooms
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 40. Red Grooms and Master printer Bud Shark began their many print collaborations in 1981 with “Mountaintime”, followed in 1982 by their first three-dimensional lithograph, “Ruckus...
Lithograph
$20,578
H 25.5 in W 20 in D 2 in
Hand of Africa - Mandela, Former South African President, Signed Artwork, Hand
By Nelson Mandela
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Nelson Mandela, Hand of Africa, Signed Limited Edition Lithograph Many people are unaware that Nelson Mandela turned his hand to art in his 80's as a way of leaving a legacy for his ...
Lithograph
$4,500
H 11.75 in W 8.25 in
Tracey Emin - Fighting for Love - Offset lithograph mimeograph, Signed/N, Framed
By Tracey Emin
Located in New York, NY
Offset lithograph mimeograph on green apple paper Pencil signed and numbered 9/300 Provenance: Opus Art Limited This work has been elegantly floated and framed in a wood frame under ...
Digital, Lithograph, Offset
"Crossing the River: Chasing"
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30. Known for paintings based on historical Chinese photographs, Hung Liu's subjects over the years have been prostitutes, refugees, street performers, s...
Lithograph
Henry's Arrival on the Art World Causes Gravity
By James Rosenquist
Located in New York, NY
Six-color lithograph on Arches Cover paper (Edition of 75 + 15 APs) Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, recto This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
Lithograph
The Last Dynasty: Countess
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30. Known for paintings based on historical Chinese photographs, Hung Liu's subjects over the years have been prostitutes, refugees, street performers, s...
Lithograph
$2,800
H 22 in W 30 in
Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers, lithograph, black & white, Allan Houser
By Allan Houser
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Apache Mountain Spirit Dancers, lithograph, black & white, Allan Houser hand pulled black and white lithograph edition printed in Santa Fe, New Mexico L...
Lithograph
$3,500
H 37.25 in W 31.25 in
"Slushing" hand-signed lithograph by Red Grooms from the 1971 "No Gas" portfolio
By Red Grooms
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"Slushing" lithograph by Red Grooms from 1971 "No Gas" portfolio. Signed AP at bottom of blue umbrella in center of image and Red Grooms on shoe in lower right corner. Depicts people...
Lithograph
The Last Dynasty: Empress
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30. Known for paintings based on historical Chinese photographs, Hung Liu's subjects over the years have been prostitutes, refugees, street performers, s...
Lithograph
Arena Brains
By Robert Longo
Located in New York, NY
Arches paper. Artist's proof (also an edition of 75). Signed and inscribed "Working Proof" in pencil. Published by Brooke Alexander Editions, New York, to benefit Artists Space, New...
Lithograph, Color