Based in New York, painter Cobi Moules creates work that engages with queer and transgender identity, relationships, pop culture and the complexities of family. Moules’s self-portraits, both realistic and imagined, express a signature style consisting of multiple copies of himself, often painted over 19th-century American landscapes. Moules chooses these locations intentionally for their connections to “America’s first true artistic fraternity” — the Hudson River School.
Moules was born in 1980 in Oakdale, California, and his early memories include painting on his grandmother’s porch, struggling with the process and his mistakes. Despite his frustration, Moules found himself returning to art again and again.
In 2004, Moules graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, and in 2010, he received a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Moules was an artist-in-residence at six different organizations, earning fellowships from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 2008 and the Joan Mitchell MFA Grant in 2010. After graduation, Moules earned the Vermont Studio Center Fellowship and the Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Grant.
Two of his projects are named after modified lyrics from a famous Cyndi Lauper song: "Bois Just Want To Have Fun" and "That’s All They Really Want." They vibrantly examine the visual renegotiation of personal image.
Moules’s work has been exhibited widely across the United States, including at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Jepson Center in Georgia, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine and Smack Mellon in New York. The Leslie Lohman Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the RISD Museum and the 21c Museum have all acquired his work.
Moules’s work, which challenges the conventions of American art and its landscape painting traditions, continues to capture the attention of critics and collectors.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of Cobi Moules paintings.
Untitled (Ausable River 2) - Contemporary figurative landscape oil painting
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Figurative hyperreal landscape oil painting, "(Untitled (Ausable River 2)," by Cobi Moules. Oil on canvas. 8 x 10 inches. Offered unframed. Driven by the desire for adventure and di...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Ausable River 1) - Contemporary figurative landscape oil painting
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Figurative hyperreal landscape oil painting, "(Untitled (Ausable River 1))," by Cobi Moules. Oil on canvas. 8 x 6 inches. Offered unframed. Driven by the desire for adventure and di...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Island in the Sky) - Figurative landscape oil painting
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Landscape oil painting, "(Island in the Sky)," by Cobi Moules Oil on canvas. 8 x 10 inches Driven by the desire for adventure and discovery, Cobi Moules embraces the beauty of natu...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Adirondacks) - Figurative landscape painting
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Landscape painting by Cobi Moules - Oil on canvas Driven by the desire for adventure and discovery, Cobi Moules embraces the beauty of nature all the while shifting its weight throu...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Salt Marsh Herring Cove)
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Landscape painting titled "Untitled (Salt Marsh Herring Cove)" by Cobi Moules - Oil on canvas Driven by the desire for adventure and discovery, Cobi Moules embraces the beauty of nature all the while shifting its weight through the exaltation of his own existence within, and as part, of it. This is best exemplified by the way he incorporates multiple self-portraits throughout his compositions. The multiplicity of self takes both precedence over, as well as integration into, the landscape creating a world with a sense of excitement, self-worth and play. The locations of Moules’ compositions are equally important. All of the locations were previously depicted in paintings by the Hudson River School. Through the exploration of the grand American landscape and the reflection on mid-19th century American...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Mountain view of Schroon Lake) - Figurative landscape oil painting
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Landscape oil painting, "(Mountain view of Schroon Lake)," by Cobi Moules - Oil on canvas Driven by the desire for adventure and discovery, Cobi Moules embraces the beauty of nature...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Ship Harbor)
By Cobi Moules
Located in East Quogue, NY
Winter landscape painting by Cobi Moules - Oil on canvas Exhibition History: "New England Now: People," Shelburne Museum, Vermont (June 26 - October 17, 2021) Driven by the desire for adventure and discovery, Cobi Moules embraces the beauty of nature all the while shifting its weight through the exaltation of his own existence within, and as part, of it. This is best exemplified by the way he incorporates multiple self-portraits throughout his compositions. The multiplicity of self takes both precedence over, as well as integration into, the landscape creating a world with a sense of excitement, self-worth and play. The locations of Moules’ compositions are equally important. All of the locations were previously depicted in paintings by the Hudson River School. Through the exploration of the grand American landscape and the reflection on mid-19th century American landscape painting, Moules navigates the parallels between the Hudson River School and the religious ideology that was an integral part of his formative years. Shared throughout both is the elevation of purity, virginity and the honor of sacrificing one’s selfhood for the glory of God. As the Hudson River School artists’ work embodies the overpowering force of God made manifest through nature, so do the religious voices of Moules’ past against the validation of his existence. Moules states, “As a queer and trans person, I seek to renegotiate my relationship with this upbringing and the act of being told I am ‘unnatural’ through such a Christian lens. I utilize traditional representation as a way of seeking inclusion while disrupting the original narrative. Creating a space for personal significance and a queer and trans presence, the importance becomes the experience of my multiple and overall presence. It is a community of me playing, exploring my selves, exploring nature and being part of it.” Landscape, nature, figurative painting, self portrait, portrait, seascape, coastline, seashore, Hudson River School, contemporary art, Ship Harbor...
Canvas, Oil
$8,893
H 55.12 in W 78.75 in D 1.97 in
Summer - Contemporary Impressionistic Painting of a Landscape
By Frank Dekkers
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Frank Dekkers Summer 140 x 200 cm (not framed) oil on canvas On the pictures we also show you the artist receiving the flowers on our opening of this exhibition september 3th 2023 i...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
Meditation
By Willard Dixon
Located in Burlingame, CA
Willard Dixon is widely recognized for his calm, contemplative landscapes and skyscapes, paintings that hold stillness, clarity, and a quiet reverence for nature. In this exhibition,...
Canvas, Oil
$19,521
H 41 in W 53 in D 1.75 in
Large Original Painting of Broadway New York City from 2011 - early 21st Century
By Angela Wakefield
Located in Preston, GB
Large Atmospheric Black & Yellow Painting of Broadway New York City by British Urban Landscape Artist, Angela Wakefield. This unique original...
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Gesso, Linen, Mixed Media, Oil
$8,500
H 48 in W 48 in
Contaminating the Innocent - Young Girl Swimming Surrounded by Plastic Waste
By Bruno Surdo
Located in Chicago, IL
This painting reflects Bruno Surdo’s continued engagement with classical realism as a vehicle for contemporary allegory. A young girl, centered and frontal, sits in an inflatable ring surrounded by floating plastic waste—bottles, containers, straws—both above and beneath the water’s surface. The composition is calm, almost symmetrical, yet emotionally unsettling. Surdo’s atelier-based training is evident in the careful modeling of the child’s anatomy, the naturalistic rendering of skin tones, and the controlled atmospheric perspective. The figure is painted with the same dignity and structural clarity found in Renaissance portraiture, elevating what could be a simple environmental image into a modern history painting. Art historically, the work draws from the tradition of allegorical portraiture, where innocence is personified to communicate moral themes. The child recalls Renaissance depictions of putti or symbolic youth figures, yet here innocence is placed in peril. The floating debris creates a contemporary vanitas motif: instead of skulls and extinguished candles, the symbols of decay are plastic and petroleum byproducts—markers of environmental neglect. The waterline dividing the composition subtly recalls the layered moral narratives of Baroque painting, where surface beauty often concealed deeper truths. The title, Contaminating the Innocent, underscores this allegorical intent, transforming the image into a meditation on generational responsibility. Within Surdo’s broader oeuvre—often concerned with spectacle, identity, and human consequence—this painting shifts toward ecological consciousness. Yet it remains consistent with his practice of grounding urgent modern themes in the visual authority of classical technique. By presenting environmental degradation through the lens of Renaissance-informed realism, Surdo avoids didactic illustration and instead creates a quiet, haunting indictment. The stillness of the child’s gaze contrasts with the chaos of the polluted water, reinforcing the central tension: the vulnerability of innocence in a world shaped by adult action. Bruno Surdo Contaminating the Innocent oil on canvas 48h x 48w in 121.92h x 121.92w cm BRS072 Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2020 Realities, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...
Oil, Canvas
$25,044
H 90.56 in W 195.28 in
11/02/2023, 18.46h by Calo Carratalá - Large waterscape painting, Senegal, birds
By Calo Carratalá
Located in Paris, FR
02/11/2023, 6:46 pm is a unique oil on canvas diptych painting by Spanish contemporary artist Calo Carratalá, composed of two panels of equal size. Total dimensions: 230 × 496 cm (90...
Canvas, Oil
$1,339
H 23.63 in W 23.63 in D 2.37 in
Cornish Beach, Original Painting, Coastal art, Beach, Seaside, Summer
Located in Deddington, GB
Cornish Beach was painted in North Cornwall and is based on coastal locations such as Daymer Bay, Polzeath and Padstow. It looks beautiful in a home with bright uplifting colours and...
Canvas, Oil
$1,543
H 7.09 in W 7.88 in D 0.79 in
Feminine & Masculine XV - Modern Figurative Oil Painting, Beach View, Realism
By Julita Malinowska
Located in Salzburg, AT
Artodyssey "Julita Malinowska's paintings belong to those, which once seen - are never forgotten. The open spaces, sometimes cool and bright, at other times heavily saturated with co...
Canvas, Oil
$3,600
H 34.5 in W 34.5 in
"A Few Prosaic Days", Fall in New England Landscape Painting, Nature, Leaves
By Katherine Fraser
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This figurative painting titled "A Few Prosaic Days" is an original artwork by Katherine Fraser made of oil paint on canvas. This landscape painting depicts a nature scene of trees with a variety of colorful foliage including reds, yellows, and greens. This piece measures 34.5"h x 34.5"w framed and is shipped in the pictured framed. Katherine Fraser has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and of the University of Pennsylvania. As a student she received the Thomas Eakins Painting prize, the Cecelia Beaux Portrait prize, and the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Travel Award, among others. Since graduating in 2002, she has received awards including the Lucy Glick...
Canvas, Oil
$8,893
H 55.12 in W 78.75 in D 1.97 in
Low Water - Contemporary Impressionistic Painting of a Landscape
By Frank Dekkers
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Frank Dekkers Low Water 140 x 200 cm (not framed) oil on canvas On the pictures we also show you the artist receiving the flowers on our opening of this exhibition september 3th 202...
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$3,200
H 29.5 in W 36.5 in
"Time Machine", Hyperrealistic, Motorcycle and Graffiti Figurative Oil Painting
By Katherine Fraser
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This figurative painting titled "Time Machine" is an original artwork by Katherine Fraser made of oil paint on canvas. This piece measures 29.5"h x 36.5"w framed and is shipped in the pictured frame. Katherine Fraser has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and of the University of Pennsylvania. As a student she received the Thomas Eakins Painting prize, the Cecelia Beaux Portrait prize, and the William Emlen Cresson Memorial Travel Award, among others. Since graduating in 2002, she has received awards including the Lucy...
Canvas, Oil
Evening Bach
By Willard Dixon
Located in Burlingame, CA
Glorious combination of figuration and landscape with ocean-scape from celebrated living American Realist Willard Dixon who has spent a lifetime capturing the West with its grand and humble spirit. The exceptional work comes framed with a natural and contemporary hard wood framing. 'Evening Beach' is 43 x 65 inches. The work is featured in the artists's newest book, Evening Light. Signed and dated by the artist. A beautiful work of art that celebrates early evening ocean calm and light - the artist's favorite. Willard Dixon's work can be found in countless private collections and important museum collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Oakland Museum of California Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Brought to you from Andra Norris Gallery in California. Selected Collections The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Oakland Museum The Utah Museum of Fine Art San Francisco Art Commission Shaklee Corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Francisco, CA Kemper Insurance Company, Long Grove, Il Morrison and Foerester, San Francisco, CA SSI Container Corporation, San Francisco, CA San Francisco International Airport Oxford Petroleum Company, Houston,TX California First Bank, San Francisco, CA United Pipeline, Houston, TX Security Pacific National Bank, S.F., CA Crocker Bank, Los Angeles, CA Visa Corporation, San Francisco, CA Atlantic Richfield Corporation Shell Oil, Houston, TX First National Bank of Seattle RREEF Corporation, San Francisco, CA Texas Heritage Society Genstar Corporation, San Francisco, CA Sohio Corporation Skidmore Owings and Merrill, N.Y.C., NY Chemical Bank, NY Swissre Corporation, NY The Insurance Company of North America First National Bank of Midland, Texas Commerce Bank AMA Headquarters, Washington, DC Hughes Tool, Houston, TX ATT, NY Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, San Francisco, CA IBM Corporation, San Jose, CA Northern Trust Company, Chicago, IL Smith Kline and French Corp., Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Bank, San Francisco, CA Republic National Bank Chevron Trammel Crow Company, Dallas, CA U.S. Insurance Group, N.J. Southwestern Bell Corp., MO Union Bank Pacific Bell United States Trust Company, NY The United Bank of Denver, CO Cigna Corp., Philadelphia, PA Atlantic Richfield Corp., Los Angeles, CA Show, Pittman, Pots and Trobridge, Washington, DC San Francisco Zen Center Hughes Aircraft Co. Los Angeles, CA Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M), St. Paul, MN Bank of America, NY Commerce Bancshares, Inc., Kansas City,MO Robinson Humphrey/American Express, Atlanta, GA Merrill Lynch, San Francisco, CA Goldman Sachs, NY Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., NY Victoria Bank and Trust, Victoria, TX NYNEX, NY Coca Cola, U.S.A., Atlanta, GA TransAmerica Corporation Pacific Telesis Group Brobeck, Phleger, & Harrison Exxon Corporation U.S. Trust Selected Private Collections Estate of Ahmet Ertegun, New York, NY Mr. Harrison Ford, Los Angeles, CA Estate of Irving Lazarr, Los Angeles, Ca Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Holzer, New York, NY Mr. and Mrs. Peter Asher...
Canvas, Oil
$1,800
H 18 in W 30 in
"Introductions" Oil painting of Brown and Black Dogs by Katherine Fraser
By Katherine Fraser
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This piece titled "Introductions" is an original artwork by Katherine Fraser made from oil on canvas. This piece measures 18"h x 30"w framed, and ships with a gallery-issued Certific...
Canvas, Oil