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David Ligare Paintings

American, b. 1945

During a trip to Europe following his graduation from high school, a young David Ligare boldly walked up to the home of artist Salvador Dalí in Port Lligat, Spain, and knocked on the front door. Fortunately for Ligare, the legendary Surrealist was home. Even more fortunate, Dalí agreed to speak with him, and the two spent the afternoon chatting in his studio. Although it’s not known what they discussed, Ligare later became a painter. While his landscapes, still lifes and narrative oil paintings expand upon the realist tradition, the figures in his works are stylized — they’re polished and wholly free of imperfection.

Ligare was born in 1945 in Oak Park, Illinois. At the age of five years old, he moved with his family to California and, in later years, studied at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena.

In 1978, Ligare’s artistic style took shape after joining a group of artists who were intent on reviving narrative painting during a time dominated by Conceptualism, minimalism and Pop art. An essay fueled Ligare’s decision to base his style on narration by critic and painter Sidney Tillim titled “Notes on Narrative and History Painting,” which appeared in Artforum a year prior. Tillim had explained why narrative art was necessary, stating that “a didactic morality or its equivalent must similarly support and validate what comes down to a new — or renewed — effort to illustrate belief.”  

Not only was Ligare inspired by the works of 17th-century painter Nicolas Poussin — a major figure in classical French Baroque art — but he also drew upon Greco-Roman classicism. Greek sculptor Polykleitos, mathematician Pythagoras, and Plato's philosophy and mythology helped shape his ideas of light, balance, symmetry, and harmony. His surroundings also inspired Ligare in Monterey County, California, where he is based — many of his paintings depict the California coast in the background.

Ligare has shown his works extensively, including in exhibitions at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, the Fresno Art Museum, the Frye Art Museum in Seattle and the Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture in London. His paintings are part of the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Department of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi in Florence, Italy.

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Artist: David Ligare
Offering: Grapes & Fig
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
David Ligare (b. 1945) Contemporary American Painter "Offering: Grapes & Fig," 2023 Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in. Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): Ligare / 2023
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

PERMETTO (To Allow)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2024
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Figs, Pomegranate and Rose
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
SAPERE AUDE. Dare to be wise. Immanuel Kant’s directive is embodied in the work of David Ligare. For forty years, Ligare has dedicated his work to classi...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Candle and Flowers
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
SAPERE AUDE. Dare to be wise. Immanuel Kant’s directive is embodied in the work of David Ligare. For thirty-five years, Ligare has dedicated his work to ...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Polykleitian Head and Ancathus
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
SAPERE AUDE. Dare to be wise. Immanuel Kant’s directive is embodied in the work of David Ligare. For thirty-five years, Ligare has dedicated his work to ...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Figs on Cloth
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
SAPERE AUDE. Dare to be wise. Immanuel Kant’s directive is embodied in the work of David Ligare. For thirty-five years, Ligare has dedicated his work to ...
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

A Specific View (SCIENTIA, ARTE, VENUSTAS) (Knowledge, Skill, Beauty)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (on verso): D. Ligare / 2024
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Thrown Drapery (Redux) Study 1
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2004
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Box
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): L; (on verso): David Ligare
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Landscape with an Owl (ATHENE NOCTUA) (Owl of Athena)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2024
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Polykleitian Head and Candles (Idea)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2018
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Peach on Cloth
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2014
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

DISCERE (To Learn)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2024
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

ORDINE NATURAE (The Order of Nature)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2015
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

SOLIS (Sunlight)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2024
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Apples and Basket
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso)" D. Ligare / 2014
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

VIRTUS (Virtue)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed (at lower right): L; (on the back): D. Ligare / 2024
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

SCIRE (To Know)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed with initial (at lower right): L
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Still Life with Apple on Cloth
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Signed and dated (at lower right): L; (on verso): D. Ligare / 2014
Category

2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

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Previously Available Items
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Offering: Apples & Wheat
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Still Life with Lilies
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Still Life with Lilies
H 9.75 in W 13.75 in D 1.5 in
Still Life with Figs and Rose
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Bulk Order for Eugene Orloff
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
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2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

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Still Life with White Roses in Pot
By David Ligare
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2010s Contemporary David Ligare Paintings

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Still Life with Figs and Egyptian Pot
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The Cane Gatherer (Qanu)
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Three Grecian Women
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Still Life with Plums and Goldfinch (Aparchai)
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Integritas
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Integritas
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Still Life with Grapes and Fig (Primitae)
By David Ligare
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas
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David Ligare paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic David Ligare paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of paintings 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 Ligare in oil paint, paint, canvas and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large David Ligare paintings, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Eric Zener, Carol O'Malia, and Elliott Green. David Ligare paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $10,000 and tops out at $103,500, while the average work can sell for $28,000.

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