Skip to main content

Arthur Tress Art

American, b. 1940
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 24, 1940, Arthur Tress began his first camera work as a teenager in the surreal neighborhood of Coney Island where he spent hours exploring the decaying amusement parks. Later, during five years of world travel, mostly in Asia and Africa, he developed an interest in ethnographical photography that eventually led him to his first professional assignment as a U.S. government photographer recording the endangered folk cultures of Appalachia. Seeing the destructive results of corporate resource extraction, Tress began to use his camera to raise environmental awareness about the economic and human costs of pollution. Focusing on New York City, he began to photograph the neglected fringes of the urban waterfront with a straight documentary approach. This gradually evolved into a more personal mode of “magic realism” combining improvised elements of actual life with stage fantasy that became his hallmark style of directorial fabrication. In the late 1960s Tress was inspired to do a series based upon children’s dreams that combined his interests in ritual ceremony, Jungian archetypes, and social allegory. Later bodies of work dealing with the hidden dramas of adult relationships and the reenactments of male homosexual desire evolved from this primarily theatrical approach. Beginning in the early 1980s, Tress began shooting in color, creating room-sized painted sculptural installations out of found medical equipment in an abandoned hospital on New York’s Welfare Island. This led to a smaller scale exploration of narrative still life within a children’s toy theater and a portable nineteenth-century aquarium. Around 2002, Tress returned to gelatin silver, exploring more formalist themes in the style of mid- century modernism, often combining a spontaneous shooting style with a constructivist’s sense of architectural composition and abstract shape. In addition to images of California skateboard parks, his recent work includes the round images of the series Planets and the diamond-shaped images of Pointers. Selected Arthur Tress Books and Publications Open Space in the Inner City: Ecology and the Urban Environment. New York: New York State Council on the Arts, 1971. Arthur Tress: The Dream Collector. Text by John Minahan. Richmond: Westover, 1972, New York: Avon, 1974. Shadow. A Novel in Photographs. New York: Avon, 1975 Theater of the Mind. Text by Duane Michaels, Michel Tournier and A.D. Coleman. Dobbs Ferry: Morgan and Morgan, 1976. Reves. Text by Michel Tournier. Brussels: Complexe, 1979. Talisman. Edited by Marco Livingstone. Oxford: Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1986. The Teapot Opera. Photographs and text by Arthur Tress. Goro International, 1986, Abbeville, 1988. Male of the Species: Four Decades of Photography by Arthur Tress. Text by Michale Tournier. Fotofactory, 1999. Fish Tank Sonata. Bulfinch, 2000. Arthur Tress: Fantastic Voyage: Photographs 1956-2000. Bulfinch, 2001. Memories. Photographs by Arthur Tress, Poems by Guillaume Apollinaire. 21st,
to
3
12
4
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
16
1
2
9
4
12
12
3
2
16
13
6
5
4
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
16
1
1
18
8,829
2,810
1,317
1,270
1
4
17
Artist: Arthur Tress
Groom with the White Arabian, CA, Black and White Nude Male with Horse Tress
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Groom with the White Arabian, CA, Black and White Nude Male with Horse Tress 1996 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in ink, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) 14.75 x 1...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Blue Collar Fantasy
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Blue Collar Fantasy 1979 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in ink, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 25) 10.25 x 10.25 inches (26 x 26 cm), image...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Stormy Weather, Palm Springs
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Stormy Weather Palm Springs, 1995 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in black ink, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) 20 x 16 inches (50.8 x...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Two Teenagers in a Housing Project Park
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Two Teenagers in a Housing Project Park New York, NY 1971 Studio stamp in black ink, verso Vintage gelatin silver print 9 x 7.5 inches, image 14 x 12.5 inches, framed This work i...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Making Leaves - In Celebration of Pride Month
By Arthur Tress
Located in New Orleans, LA
Stone and Press Gallery is excited to offer several works in celebration of the LGBTQ community. Tress uses a bed, the juxtaposition of two rakes and a scattering of fallen leaves ...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Boy in Mickey Mouse Hat, Coney Island, New York
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Vintage gelatin silver print Signed and dated twice, verso Also inscribed in black ink, verso Various studio stamps and printing instructions, verso This artwork is offered by Clam...
Category

1960s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Blue Collar Fantasy, N.Y.
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Blue Collar Fantasy, N.Y. 1979 Signed, titled, and dated in ink, recto Vintage gelatin silver print 15 x 15 inches (38.1 x 38.1 cm), image 20 x 16 inche...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Claire De Lune, Breezy Point, New York
By Arthur Tress
Located in Carmel, CA
Mint Condition Purchased directly from artist. Loose Print Titled in Pen Left Hand Side Signed in Pen Right Hand Side
Category

Late 20th Century Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Boy in Burnt Out Furniture Store, Newark, New Jersey
By Arthur Tress
Located in Carmel, CA
Purchased directly from artist. Hand printed silver gelatin photograph,. Mint Condition Signed and titled in pen on recto.
Category

1960s Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Teenage Runners
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Teenage Runners 1976/printed later Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in black ink, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) 24 x 20 inches, sheet 19 x 19 inches, image Contac...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Voyeur
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
This is a black and white photograph by Arthur Tress of a nude male figure. The Voyeur c. 1970s Signed, titled, and numbered in black ink, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 2...
Category

2010s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Flood Dream
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Ocean City, New Jersey, 1971 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) 14 x 11 inches, sheet 10 x 10 inches, image Contact gallery for price. Literature: John Minahan, The Dream Collector (Westover Publishing Company: Richmond, Virginia, 1972) Michel Tournier...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

University Tutorial
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Signed, titled, numbered, and dated, recto Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) 14 x 11 inches sheet 10 x 10 inches image Contact gallery for price. This work is offered by Clamp...
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Burning Warehouse
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Signed, titled, and numbered, recto This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

1970s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Groom with Arabian Stallion
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Signed, l.r. Edition of 50 Contact gallery for price This work is offered by ClampArt in New York City.
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Photogravure

Platonic Friendship
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Signed, titled, and inscribed “for Paul” in black ink, recto Gelatin silver print 14 x 11 inches, sheet 7.5 x 7.5 inches, image This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New Y...
Category

1990s Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

The Last Portrait of My Father, NYC
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in black ink, recto This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Arthur Tress is one of t...
Category

1970s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Related Items
Mercer Street, 1992
By Todd Burris
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Inquire within for framing. Edition of 1 of 10 If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph This exhibition is a visual dance of contradictions. Whimsical and sophisticated. Stylistic and simple. Studied and carefree. That’s what emerges when you take a photojournalist by study, fashion photographer by trade and fine artist by instinct and leave him alone with his camera and a muse. Burris’ work is influenced by his early career spent working with fashion photographer Bill King and inspired by the decisive moment made known by the Henri Cartier Bresson. He defies the confines of either discipline. It is not fashion photography, which is by nature produced, but rather purely spontaneous. Todd left the world of fashion photography after building his own career in Milan and New York to go to LA and find his niche. He embraced his fascination with flea markets and penchant for discarded items that wouldn’t ever be chosen because they were trendy but because they were interesting. Burris packed his 1979 white Pontiac station wagon with his finds. When he came upon a stage that fit the props, he called on his muses and created a visual story on the spur of a moment. The collection of black and white images conveys a sense of effervescence and Élan. It includes photographs from Burris' time in Los Angeles as well as earlier experimental work in Milan and New York City. Anything but superficial, the invitational image, "Paget #1" challenges the traditional symmetry of beauty. We see a dramatic close up of a woman’s face, her intense eyes framed by the stark contrast between her porcelain skin and jet black hair. The lighting is such that her face is divided by shadow, one half dark and mysterious, the other half light and classically beautiful. The effect is deeply engaging. The viewer doesn’t know when the photo was taken but you want to know more. In “Mercer Street...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Ramona Falls, Oregon
By Stu Levy
Located in Westwood, NJ
Stu Levy's photographs often involve fragile landscapes that invoke a sense of timelessness. The landscape, is often his stimulus or point of departure, then asking the question, &qu...
Category

1980s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Colors of the Bamboo
By Dae Soo Kim
Located in Westwood, NJ
Dae-Soo Kim works in Paris and Seoul, while approaching this series with sensitivity and delicacy. In Korea the bamboo plants grow up to 30 meters high, while possessing a high symb...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Colors of the Bamboo
$1,500
H 16 in W 20 in
Lighthouse, Norway
By Brian Kosoff
Located in Westwood, NJ
Brian Kosoff, an accomplished master of the photographic process, spent most of his life in photography and still considers himself a student of the medium. As a teenager, he was in...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Farrah Fawcett writing in her journal, 1976 by Julian Wasser
By Julian Wasser
Located in Chicago, IL
Farrah Fawcett Writing in her Journal, 1976, People Magazine This photo of Farrah in her mobile home was taken during her lunch hour. Aaron Spelling, the producer of Charlie's Angel...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Female Nudes, Black and White Photography of Women, Kate #7 by Leonard Freed
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate #7, 2002 by American photographer Leonard Freed is an 8" x 10" hand printed, signed by the photographer black and white photograph, stamped "vintage" by the Freed estate on vers...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper

Female Nudes, Dancers Atlanta USA 1990s, Vintage Photograph, Stripper Performers
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Stripper Performers, Atlanta, 1996 by Leonard Freed is an 11" x 14" vintage print, stamped on verso (back of photo) with Freed's copyright stamp and...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Chanel Vertical, 1990
By Todd Burris
Located in Hudson, NY
Listing is for UNFRAMED print. Edition 1 of 15. CURRENT EXHIBITION - runs through September 4th, 2016. Any framed photographs purchased during the show will be available after September 4th. If the exhibition piece is sold or the customer orders a different print size, the photograph is produced upon purchase. Please allow two weeks for production. Shipping time depends on method of shipping. Price is subject to availability. The Robin Rice Gallery reserves the right to adjust this price depending on the current edition of the photograph. ABOUT: Since the early ‘90s, gallerist Robin Rice and designer Antony Todd...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Silver Gelatin

The Bath #1 - In Celebration of Pride Month
By David Levy
Located in New Orleans, LA
Stone and Press Gallery is excited to offer several works in celebration of the LGBTQ community. David Levy created this vintage silver gelatin photograph in 1995. The image was t...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Pop Stars Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Chuck Wein, Iconic Black and White Photo
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick and Chuck Wein posing in a manhole on East 58th Street in Manhattan's Sutton Place. Photo by Burt Glinn (1965). A color photograph from Glinn’s Warhol phot...
Category

1960s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin

Helen Frankenthaler, Painter New York City, Photograph of Woman Artist in 1950s
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
A documentary portrait of Helen Frankenthaler (1925-2011) in her studio in New York in the 1950s. Frankenthaler has remained a major American woman artist and female force of nature ...
Category

1950s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Female Nude, Golden Gate Bridge, Black and White Portrait Photography, Kate #15
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Kate #15, 2002 by American photographer Leonard Freed is an 8" x 10" (small format) black and white photograph, stamped "vintage" on verso (back of photo) by the Freed estate. Shot In San Francisco with the Golden Gate Bridge backdrop Leonard Freed photographs Kate, a woman photographer and yogini who revels in dolce vita poses during a shoot on a cliff drive in California. The self-assigned photo series on Kate became a welcome reprieve for Leonard Freed who during a long photo...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper

Previously Available Items
Bowling Fantasy
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, studio stamp (verso), 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount. Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category

1970s Surrealist Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Nude on the Stairs
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, studio stamp (verso), 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount. Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category

1970s Surrealist Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Man with Trousers
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount. Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category

1980s Surrealist Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Untitled
By Arthur Tress
Located in London, GB
Silver gelatin print, studio stamp (verso), 19cm x 19cm (print size), (50cm x 40cm in mount), unframed, but contained within archive quality mount. Tress is one of the most renowned and innovative photographers of his generation. Citing his influences as Hokusai, Frank Lloyd Wright, Picasso, El Lissitzky, Duane Michaels...
Category

1980s Surrealist Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Untitled
Untitled
H 7.49 in W 7.49 in
Teenage Runners
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 20 x 16 inches (Edition of 50) This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Arthur Tress is one of the m...
Category

1970s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Death Fantasy (a haunting image which portrays a boy's worst nightmare)
By Arthur Tress
Located in New Orleans, LA
"Death Fantasy" is a vintage silver gelatin photograph by Arthur Tress which captures a haunting image of a young boy enveloped in the grasp of a tall black-hooded figure. It is tit...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin, Photographic Paper

Road Kill (a nude male lies in the deep ruts of a muddy curved trail)
By Arthur Tress
Located in New Orleans, LA
This vintage silver gelatin photograph acquired directly from the artist, Arthur Tress is #1 from an edition of 50. It is signed, numbered and titled "Road Kill" , San Luis Obispo, ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin

Bike Lovers, NY
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print (Edition of 50) Signed, titled, dated, and numbered in black ink, recto 14 x 11 inches, sheet This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. A...
Category

1970s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Spinal Tap (nude male standing with skeleton of actual spinal column)
By Arthur Tress
Located in New Orleans, LA
Arthur Tress, in his vintage 1996 silver gelatin photograph, depicts a standing nude male holding an actual skeleton of a spinal column against his muscled back. The Getty Museum re...
Category

1990s Contemporary Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Stephen Brecht, Bride/Groom
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print Signed, titled, and numbered in black ink, recto 14 x 11 inches, sheet 10 x 10 inches, image (Edition of 50) 20 x 16 inches, sheet 15 x 15 inches, image (Editi...
Category

1970s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Teenage Runners
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered 14 x 11 inches, sheet 10 x 10 inches, image (Edition of 50) 20 x 16 inches, sheet 15 x 15 inches, image (Edition of 50) 24...
Category

1970s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Masked Children, 110th Street
By Arthur Tress
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print Signed in black ink, l.l. 20 x 16 inches, sheet 19 x 15 inches, image This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Arthur Tress is one of th...
Category

1960s Other Art Style Arthur Tress Art

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Arthur Tress art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Arthur Tress available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Arthur Tress in silver gelatin print, intaglio, photogravure and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Arthur Tress, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Jeffrey Silverthorne, Karin Rosenthal, and Robert Stivers. Arthur Tress prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,210 and tops out at $24,400, while the average work can sell for $2,927.

Artists Similar to Arthur Tress

Recently Viewed

View All