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David Humphrey Art

American, b. 1955
David Humphrey (born August 30, 1955) is an American painter, art critic, and sculptor associated with the postmodern turn in painting that began in the late 1970s. He is best known for his playful, cartoonish, puzzling paintings, which blend figuration and abstraction and create "allegories" about the medium of painting itself. Humphrey holds a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (1977) and a MA from New York University (1980), where he studied with film critic Annette Michelson; he also attended the New York Studio School from 1996 – 1997. He has been the recipient of many awards including the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2002, the Rome Prize in 2008, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Award in 2011. He was born in Augsburg Germany and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He lives and works in New York City. Though his paintings, works on paper, and sculptures defy categorization, David Humphrey emerged as an artist in the late 1970s along with Postmodernism, an approach that continues to inform his heterogeneous compositions, visual pastiches that, in his words, “erase the breaks” between divergent styles. As he explains: “I suppose that the dynamic of relationship—the psychology of bonding, lovemaking, attachment, and so on—has kept me interested for a long time. I come back to it as a way to thicken the grammar of picture making.” In his paintings, this grammar includes gestural abstraction, cartoonish figuration, Pop Art, Surrealism, and Expressionism. His vibrant compositions feature human figures, narrative vignettes, animals, and objects interwoven into abstract passages. They read as sexually and psychologically charged dreamscapes, through which Humphrey breaks down boundaries to explore our relationships with each other and the world.
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Artist: David Humphrey
Pickpocket
Pickpocket

Pickpocket

By David Humphrey

Located in Long Island City, NY

Artist: David Humphrey, American (1955 - ) Title: Pickpocket Year: 1985 Medium: Oil on Canvas, signed verso Size: 84 in. x 66 in. (213.36 cm x 167.64 cm)

Category

1980s Contemporary David Humphrey Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Probing
Probing

Probing

By David Humphrey

Located in Miami Beach, FL

The acclaimed David Humphrey (born 1955) has been exhibiting his work internationally since the 1980s when he first burst upon the New York art scene. His compositions often feature ...

Category

1980s Modern David Humphrey Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Remembering Florida. Unique signed abstract mixed media painting on paper Framed
Remembering Florida. Unique signed abstract mixed media painting on paper Framed

Remembering Florida. Unique signed abstract mixed media painting on paper Framed

By David Humphrey

Located in New York, NY

David Humphrey Remembering Florida, 1992 Oil Stick, Enamel on Handmade Paper (Contemporary Art Center of Cincinnati label verso of frame) Signed on the back 29 × 43 1/2 × 1 inches Unframed This is an abstract, mixed media work by David Humphrey. It has a "Contemporary Arts Center of Cincinnati" label on the verso. In a vintage mahogany box...

Category

1990s Contemporary David Humphrey Art

Materials

Paper, Oil Crayon, Oil

Abstract Expressionist work on paper, unique, signed by renowned American artist
Abstract Expressionist work on paper, unique, signed by renowned American artist

Abstract Expressionist work on paper, unique, signed by renowned American artist

By David Humphrey

Located in New York, NY

David Humphrey Untitled, 2015 Acrylic on paper Hand signed and dated 2015 on the lower left front 11 × 8 1/2 inches Unframed This original painting was created by David Humphrey in 2...

Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist David Humphrey Art

Materials

Acrylic, Photographic Paper

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Previously Available Items
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David Humphrey art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic David Humphrey art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by David Humphrey in paint, oil paint, paper 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 David Humphrey art, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of David Kramer, Eric Abrecht, and William Stanisich. David Humphrey art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $650 and tops out at $25,000, while the average work can sell for $2,750.

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