Using an innovative technique he called “rough collage,” Benny Andrews created vivid portraits of everyday people that mixed painting with pieces of clothing and other textural materials.
Andrews grew up in a family of sharecroppers in rural Georgia, his creativity nurtured by his father, who was a self-taught artist, and his mother, who believed in the importance of education. He was the first in his family to complete high school and attended Fort Valley State College on a 4-H Club scholarship. Andrews was limited by the lack of art courses available to him at Fort Valley, and in 1950 he enlisted in the Air Force and served in the Korean War. On the G.I. Bill, he studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). While fellow students focused on Abstract Expressionism, Andrews developed his own expressive style; one of his earliest portraits was of the janitors at SAIC. After he graduated in 1958, he moved to New York. Andrews’s first solo show was in 1960 at Paul Kessler Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Visibility and social justice were at the forefront of Benny Andrews’s paintings, which meditated on scenes of daily life, drawing on memories of the artist’s childhood in the South. His subjects included his family members as well as other artists, such as Alice Neel, Norman Lewis and Howardena Pindell.
A longtime educator, including for three decades at New York’s Queens College, Andrews avidly promoted opportunities for Black artists, such as cofounding with Clifford R. Joseph the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition in 1969, which advocated for inclusion in museum exhibitions. One of his final works —completed between 2004 and 2006 — was the Migrant Series in which he retraced the forced relocation of Indigenous people on the Trail of Tears, the Dust Bowl migration and the displacement of Hurricane Katrina survivors.
Andrews’s work has continued to garner acclaim after his death in 2006, with posthumous exhibitions including “Benny Andrews: Portraits, a Real Person Before the Eyes” at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in New York in 2020.
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Woman with Flowers
By Benny Andrews
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Benny Andrews, American (1930 - 2006) Title: Woman with Flowers Year: 1976 Medium: Oil and Collage on Canvas, signed and dated l.r. (and ...
Oil, Canvas
$4,055
H 28.75 in W 51.19 in D 0.79 in
Trees 19 October 11:43 - Modern Nature Painting, Landscape, Forest, Contemplativ
By Robert Motelski
Located in Hallein, AT
Robert Motelski's paintings are exceptional visions of nature, visions of space which surrounds us. They tell about being, fate and passing. They depend on the season of year, the ti...
Canvas, Oil
$5,794
H 44.89 in W 76.78 in
The Fauzan, Valley - Large Oil on Canvas Painting, Southern France Landscape
By Valérie de Sarrieu
Located in Paris, FR
The Fauzan, Valley is a unique oil on canvas painting by contemporary artist Valérie de Sarrieu, dimensions are 114 × 195 cm (44.9 × 76.8 in). The artwork is signed, sold unframed a...
Canvas, Oil
$3,500
H 48 in W 24 in D 2 in
"Shape Up (diptych)", Barbershop Interior in Cut Canvas and Oil Paint
By Eustace Mamba
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"Shape Up (diptych)" is an original artwork by Eustace Mamba and measures 24”h x 18”w x 1”d (left panel), 48”h x 24”w x 2”d (right panel). The artists cuts, arranges, sews, and coll...
Textile, Paint, Mixed Media, Fabric, Canvas, Coating, Glitter, Oil, Spra...
$6,800
H 47 in W 65 in D 2 in
47 x 65 in. / 4 x 5.4 ft "Oregon" - Large abstract Oil on Canvas
By Alexis Portilla
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This is a beautiful oil painting by Alexis Portilla, using a palette of jewel colors, bold brushwork and pictographs to create an atmospheric piece. Color, lines and shapes that resemble pictographs and vessels convey symbolism. Vessels are a recurring theme in Portilla's work as symbolic of the potential for the ability to hold and receive. Influenced by the emotion of artistic expression in music, poetry and literature, the artist finds bold expression in color, lines and shapes that resemble pictographs, and texture. Oregon 47 x 65 in. Oil on Canvas Signed on verso Ready to hang: Yes Frame: Not applicable Materials: Oil paint, canvas, wood stretchers Alexis Portilla holds an MFA from Columbia University (1990) and a BFA from Pratt Institute. His work is in more than 250 private collections worldwide and in many international public and corporate collections including The New York Public Library, Harvard University, Pepsi Co., Warner Music Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Penn State University, Norwest Venture Partners, and Mikasa Corporation. He has exhibited internationally at venues from New York to Hong Kong, including the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan, Hofstra University Museum in New York, and Monmouth Museum in New Jersey. Alexis Portilla's large scale pieces like Anemone, Black Elk, Thor Twins, Tokyo, Chromatic Fantasy are spectacular pieces in terms of the atmospheric brushwork, colors and textures. His bold linear lines, use of symbols, pictographs and strong colors create atmospheric abstracts. “Alexis is a poet in space and a painter of original feeling… He conveys a constant sense of expansion.” Artist Will Barnet (1911-2012), June 2007 “Using simple forms and creating swathes of rich texture, Alexis Portilla builds atmospheric abstract paintings that convey a sense of time having passed. Brushy areas of color suggest the indeterminacy of memory, while bold linear forms speak for the present." - Meredith Mendelsohn, Art News magazine review The artist Alexis Portilla obtained his Masters of Fine Arts at Columbia University in 1990, and his BFA at the noted Pratt Institute. The artist has shown in group and solo exhibitions. His works have been commissioned by major corporations, universities and for private collections. These pieces and others are available for viewing in Los Angeles. Instruction 1993-1994 Faculty /Adjunct Instructor Department of Printmaking Columbia University New York, NY Awards 1983 – 1994 HEOP/SEOG Full scholarship To attend Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY 1984-85 Charles A. Dana Internship and Grant, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY Public Commissions: - April 2007 Penn State University -State College, PA Department of Chemistry Public Collections: - 1996 The New York Public Library, New York, NY Department of Prints and Drawings Roberta Waddell Selected Corporate Collections Harvard Club Cambridge, MA Meredith and Grew Boston, MA Farley White Boston, MA Edwards and Angell Providence, RI Acadian Asset Management Boston, MA Proskauer Rose Boston, MA Mikasa Corporation, Tokyo, Japan First Atlantic Capital, New York, NY Warner Brothers, New York, NY —- SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Bryant University, Smithfield, RI Harvard University, Cambridge, MA The New York Public Library, New York, NY Penn State University, State College, PA (commissioned work) SELECTED PRIVATE AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS Collection of Padma Lakshmi Mikasa Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Pepsi Co., Purchase, NY PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boston (commissioned work) Norwest Venture Partners, Palo Alto, CA Warner Brothers, New York, NY First Atlantic Capital, New York, NY Excel, Bermuda Edwards and Angell, Providence, RI Meredith and Grew, Boston, MA Farley White, Boston, MA Acadian Asset Management, Boston, MA Proskauer Rose, Boston, MA New Star Financial, Boston, MA Cross Harbor Capital, Boston, MA Weil Gotshal & Manges, Providence, RI Partner Reinsurance, Pembroke, Bermuda Hale & Dorr, Washington, DC Bingham Dana & Gould, Boston, MA Total System Services, Columbus, OH Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MA Millennia, Boston, MA Renaissance Worldwide, Waltham, MA Goodwin Proctor & Hoar, Boston, MA and New York, NY X.L. Pembroke, Bermuda Odyssey America RE, New York, NY Greystone Realty Corp., Westport, CT Limerock Partners, Westport, CT Michael Page...
Canvas, Oil
$40,326
H 44.89 in W 57.49 in
Albergue Garden - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Painting, Oil on canvas
By Corvengi
Located in Barcelona, Catalonia
Oil on canvas The artwork is discreetly hand-signed by the artist on the bottom left corner as 'Corvengi 2017'. See images (first detailed image) or ask us for more pictures! “Ever...
Canvas, Oil
$2,897
H 59.06 in W 35.44 in
Contemporary Figurative Botanical Burgundy Flower Painting Oil on Canvas
Located in Vilnius, Vilniaus apskr.
The artist's practice is shaped by life between two cities. Raised in Vilnius (Lithuania), surrounded by lush nature, and now living in Warsaw (Poland), she observes how a world incr...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$2,839
H 21.66 in W 27.56 in D 0.79 in
The Tree 1 - Contemporary Landscape Painting, Nature, Trees, Warm Colours
By Bogumił Książek
Located in Hallein, AT
Bogumił Książek was educated at the Cracow’s Academy of Fine Arts (1995-2000). 2003 -2009 he lived and worked in Florence, Italy 2009 - 2020 he lives ...
Canvas, Oil, Acrylic
$2,027
H 13.78 in W 19.69 in D 1.19 in
Paper Prologue- 21st Century Contemporary Painting of virtual world & nude male
By Ferenc Erdok
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Ferenc Erdok Paper Prologue 35 x 50 cm Oil on canvas A unique work where a classical theme as a male nude and todays game world come together. As a young boy Ferenc Erdok (1988) a...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$245,900
H 60 in W 48 in D 3 in
Woman & Dog, Monumental Oil Painting, Signed, 60x48 Inches, 2017
By Christopher Mudgett
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Woman and Dog Christopher Mudgett Oil on canvas 2023 48 x 36 in (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Signed by the artist Certificate of authenticity included Available from the artist’s studio In W...
Canvas, Oil
Meridian Green Don
By Simon Birch
Located in Santa Monica, CA
In this series of portraits, Birch materializes enigmatic, ectoplasmic figures in his psychologically charged canvases linking sympathies between external forces and interior emotion...
Canvas, Oil
$2,800
H 20 in W 16 in D 0.5 in
Contrasts - Original Painting, Guy in a T-Shirt Wearing Glasses, Framed
By Peter Lupkin
Located in Chicago, IL
A solitary figure juxtaposed against a vivid, striped backdrop is the subject of Peter Lupkin's painting titled "Contrast". Technical elements enhance the overall aesthetic of the pi...
Canvas, Oil
$1,274
H 8.27 in W 11.82 in D 1.58 in
Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting of a Female Figure by Iris Sanmartin
By Iris Sanmartin Dalmau
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
At Escat Gallery we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of trust and professionalism for our collectors. Every artwork in our collection comes with a Certificate of Au...
Cotton Canvas, Oil