Robert Riggs On Sale
1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings
Oil
1940s American Realist Figurative Paintings
Tempera
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1960s German Rococo Dinner Plates
Gold
Antique 15th Century and Earlier German Decorative Art
Other
1920s Impressionist Landscape Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Late 18th Century Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 20th Century Art Deco Nude Sculptures
Bronze
Antique 1860s French Louis XVI Mantel Clocks
Marble, Bronze
Antique Mid-18th Century English Medieval Fireplaces and Mantels
Limestone, Iron
Late 17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings
Canvas, Oil
16th Century Mannerist Portrait Paintings
Oil, Panel
1950s Interior Paintings
Board, Color Pencil, Oil
17th Century Baroque Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
Early 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings
Canvas, Oil
20th Century European Figurative Sculptures
Vermeil, Silver
18th Century Still-life Paintings
Oil
20th Century French Art Deco Carriage Clocks and Travel Clocks
Jade, Quartz, Gold
20th Century French Belle Époque Carriage Clocks and Travel Clocks
Agate, Gold, Enamel
Robert Riggs for sale on 1stDibs
Known for his scenes of prize-fighting and circus-genre, Robert Riggs had a highly successful career as an artist, especially in the ‘30s and ‘40s. His painting, The Brown Bomber, showed the boxing victory of Joe Louis over Max Schmeling. This is one of the paintings that earned Riggs election to the National Academy of Design in 1946. He was born in Decatur, Illinois, and as a young man ran away from home and joined the circus. He studied at the James Milliken University in Illinois and then trained at the Art Students League in New York, but his study was interrupted by Army service in the First World War. He attended the Académie Julian in Paris and then returned to the United States where he settled in Philadelphia and worked for N. W. Ayer & Sons, an advertising agency for whom he did numerous illustrations.
Finding the Right Figurative-paintings for You
Figurative art, as opposed to abstract art, retains features from the observable world in its representational depictions of subject matter. Most commonly, figurative paintings reference and explore the human body, but they can also include landscapes, architecture, plants and animals — all portrayed with realism.
While the oldest figurative art dates back tens of thousands of years to cave wall paintings, figurative works made from observation became especially prominent in the early Renaissance. Artists like Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance masters created naturalistic representations of their subjects.
Pablo Picasso is lauded for laying the foundation for modern figurative art in the 1920s. Although abstracted, this work held a strong connection to representing people and other subjects. Other famous figurative artists include Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud. Figurative art in the 20th century would span such diverse genres as Expressionism, Pop art and Surrealism.
Today, a number of figural artists — such as Sedrick Huckaby, Daisy Patton and Eileen Cooper — are making art that uses the human body as its subject.
Because figurative art represents subjects from the real world, natural colors are common in these paintings. A piece of figurative art can be an exciting starting point for setting a tone and creating a color palette in a room.
Browse an extensive collection of figurative paintings on 1stDibs.