Ronald B Kitaj

On 1stDibs, you can find the most appropriate ronald b kitaj for your needs in our varied inventory. There are many Modern, Pop Art and Expressionist versions of these works for sale. If you’re looking for a ronald b kitaj from a specific time period, our collection is diverse and broad-ranging, and you’ll find at least one that dates back to the 20th Century while another version may have been produced as recently as the 21st Century. When looking for the right ronald b kitaj for your space, you can search on 1stDibs by color — popular works were created in bold and neutral palettes with elements of black, beige, gray and blue. Artworks like these — often created in lithograph, charcoal and screen print — can elevate any room of your home.

The price for an artwork of this kind can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — a ronald b kitaj in our inventory may begin at $225 and can go as high as $3,750, while the average can fetch as much as $1,200.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1932, R.B. (Ronald Brooks) Kitaj is considered a key figure in European and American contemporary painting. While his work has been considered controversial, he is regarded as a master draftsman with a commitment to figurative art. His highly personal paintings and drawings reflect his deep interest in history; cultural, social and political ideologies; and issues of identity. Among his various honors are election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1982, and election to the Royal Academy in 1985 (the first American since John Singer Sargent to receive this honor.) Numerous retrospective exhibitions of his work include shows at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.; The Jewish Museum, Berlin; The Jewish Museum, London; and the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany. Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and Troy, New York, Kitaj joined the Merchant Marines in 1949.
In 1950, between sailings, he attended classes at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. He went on to study drawing at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna, Austria. Kitaj moved to Oxford, England in 1957, and enrolled at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford. In 1959, Kitaj was accepted into Royal College of Art, London, where he befriended classmate David Hockney. Upon graduation from the RCA, Kitaj signed with Marlborough Fine Art, London, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1963. His art career began in earnest, and he found critical acclaim alongside commercial success. A second solo show followed at Marlborough Gallery, New York, in 1965, and he sold “The Ohio Gang” to The Museum of Modern Art. In 1969, Kitaj taught for a year at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1976, he coined the term “School of London” in an essay he wrote as curator of the polemical exhibition, “The Human Clay,” at the Hayward Gallery, London. The term, though loose, continues to define a group of stylistically diverse artists, including Kitaj, who were working in London at that time focusing on figural representation. In 1981, he spent a year in Paris, France, where he focused on drawing and use of pastel. In 1994, the Tate Gallery, London, organized a major retrospective of Kitaj’s work. Hostile and personal attacks from some critics led to what Kitaj referred to as the “Tate War.” The exhibition subsequently traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Kitaj moved to Los Angeles, California, and continued to exhibit with Marlborough Fine Art and the Marlborough Gallery, New York. In 2001 the National Gallery London organized a solo exhibition of paintings: “R.B. Kitaj In the Aura of Cezanne and Other Masters.” Kitaj focused on his “late style” in his Yellow Studio in Westwood and died in 2007. His gift of his archive to the UCLA Library Special Collections was celebrated with exhibitions at the Skirball Cultural Center and UCLA’s Young Research Library.