Kees van Dongen On Sale

The Dutch painter Kees van Dongen began his career as a poor young artist with no formal training who happened to encounter art by chance. Van Dongen’s distinctive style later earned him a place amongst the most fashionable artists of his generation. He was particularly famous in Paris during the 20s and 30s and was best known for depicting the modern woman. At the beginning of his career, van Dongen painted dancers and cabaret girls. Eventually, he moved to a studio, where he would host parties and balls and began to paint society women.

Van Dongen’s work can be found in the world’s most prestigious collections, such as the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza of Madrid, the Museum of Modern Art in New York or the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

(Biography provided by Stern Pissarro Gallery)

Bring energy and an array of welcome colors and textures into your space by decorating with figurative fine-art prints and works on paper.

Figurative art stands in contrast to abstract art, which is more expressive than representational. The oldest-known work of figurative art is a figurative painting — specifically, a rock painting of an animal made over 40,000 years ago in Borneo. This remnant of a remote past has long faded, but its depiction of a cattle-like creature in elegant ocher markings endures.

Since then, figurative art has evolved significantly as it continues to represent the world, including a breadth of works on paper, including printmaking. This includes woodcuts, which are a type of relief print with perennial popularity among collectors. The artist carves into a block and applies ink to the raised surface, which is then pressed onto paper. There are also planographic prints, which use metal plates, stones or other flat surfaces as their base. The artist will often draw on the surface with grease crayon and then apply ink to those markings. Lithographs are a common version of planographic prints.

Figurative art printmaking was especially popular during the height of the Pop art movement, and this kind of work can be seen in artist Andy Warhol’s extensive use of photographic silkscreen printing. Everyday objects, logos and scenes were given a unique twist, whether in the style of a comic strip or in the use of neon colors.

Explore an impressive collection of figurative art prints for sale on 1stDibs and read about how to arrange your wall art.