Fletcher Benton Art
American, 1931-2019
Born in Jackson, Ohio, in 1931, Fletcher Benton showed an early talent for art. From early childhood, Benton’s mother allowed him to use the family’s basement as an art studio and enrolled him in a local painting course. Benton also undertook an apprenticeship with a sign painter, after which he opened his own sign painting business at the age of fourteen. Though he would later explore different avenues of artistic expression, lettering and sign painting remained a near-constant presence in his artistic practice for the rest of his life.
Following a brief stint in the US Navy, Benton enrolled at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, with the intent of pursuing its pre-med program. His interests quickly returned to painting, however, and he completed his degree in fine art in 1956. After graduating Benton relocated to San Francisco, California, where he immersed himself in the city’s vibrant artistic community.
In 1961, at the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, Benton had his first major solo show, a measure of his rising status as an artist. In 1964, however, a promised show at Gump’s Gallery was abruptly cancelled. This rejection sparked a radical transformation in the artist’s practice, and he began exploring Hard-Edge abstraction with a constructivist bent. Drawing on his knowledge of lettering, Benton debuted a series of kinetic works in a solo show in Los Angeles the next year. The kinetic and abstract elements of his new work led to increased interest from audiences, curators, and critics, and between 1965 and 1967 he participated in numerous high-profile exhibitions nationwide.
While he continued to exhibit, in 1967 Benton began teaching at California State University, San Jose, where he taught until retiring in 1986. In 2003 he received his first of many major public commissions: Steel Watercolor TriangleRing, a 66- foot-high red-painted steel sculpture installed at the Barbarossaplatz interchange train station in Cologne, Germany. Benton continued his work up until his death in 2019 at the age of eighty-eight.
Benton’s contributions to kinetic art and sculpture were recognized in his lifetime through numerous awards, honors, and public commissions. His works are also included in the collections of such prestigious institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, among others.(Biography provided by McClain Gallery)
to
2
1
1
1
1
1
Overall Height
to
Overall Width
to
2
2
2
7,538
4,575
2,506
1,269
1
1
1
1
1
Artist: Fletcher Benton
Large hardback monograph (inscribed and hand signed twice by Fletcher Benton)
By Fletcher Benton
Located in New York, NY
Fletcher Benton
Large hardback monograph (hand signed twice by Fletcher Benton), 1990
Hardback monograph with cloth boards and dust jacket (hand signed twice and inscribed to Ernie)
...
Category
1990s Constructivist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset, Board
Rare constructivist etching on paper by renowned abstract modernist sculptor
By Fletcher Benton
Located in New York, NY
Fletcher Benton
Etching on wove paper in artist's frame
Signed by the artist with his printed signature in graphite, signed by the artist with his hand signature also in graphite, nu...
Category
1990s Constructivist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Etching
Related Items
Basquiat Annina Nosei Gallery 1982 (Basquiat anatomy announcement)
By Jean-Michel Basquiat
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Annina Nosei Gallery, New York, 1982:
Rare Basquiat announcement card published by Annina Nosei Gallery to advertise the release of ‘Basquiat Anatomy’ (a suite ...
Category
1980s Pop Art Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Lithograph, Paper, Offset
SIGNED 1960s Jean DUBUFFET print (Jean Dubuffet exhibition poster)
By Jean Dubuffet
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Jean Dubuffet Ustensiles Utopiques 1966:
Hand-signed Jean Dubuffet lithographic poster published on the occasion of: "Jean Dubuffet, Recent Pa...
Category
1960s Contemporary Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Offset, Laid Paper, Lithograph
Simple Shapes Floating in Space, White and Blue Geometry Constructivist Monotype
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes.
It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...
Category
2010s Constructivist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Watercolor, Monotype, Rag Paper, Lithograph
"Alice Monday Morn" - 1975 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper
Located in Soquel, CA
"Alice Monday Morn" - 1975 Surrealist Lithograph on Paper
1975 surrealist lithograph on paper titled "Alice Monday Morn" by Jim Crabb (American, b. 1947). This piece gives the impression of looking through a tunnel or cave to see biomorphic objects. Some of them look like bugs, cells, or worms. Several of the shapes are connected by a thin line, implying a rope of some other mechanism.
Titled, numbered, signed, and dated along the bottom edge:
Alice Monday Morn 11/20 J Crabb...
Category
1970s Surrealist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Lithograph
"Homenaje a Picasso" - 20th Century Print by Eduardo Chillida, Abstraction
By Eduardo Chillida
Located in Köln, DE
This is one of the most important motifs in the graphic oeuvre of Chillida. The Spanish artist is very well known for his large-scale sculptures which can be found in public as well ...
Category
1970s Abstract Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Aquatint
Botanical Still-Life with House Plants & Red Roses
By Sidney Jonas Budnick
Located in Soquel, CA
Botanical Still-Life with House Plants & Red Roses
Dramatic abstracted botanical still life of house plants and red roses Lithograph by Sidney Jonas Budnick (American, 1921-1994), 19...
Category
1970s Post-War Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Ink, Laid Paper, Lithograph
H 40 in W 28 in D 0.1 in
Keith Haring Paradise Garage Exhibit Poster 'Keith Haring Jeffrey Deitch'
By Keith Haring
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Rare vintage Keith Haring exhibition poster published on the occasion of:
‘Paradise Garage: Keith Haring and Music,
December 14, 2000-February 10, 2001, Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster ...
Category
1980s Pop Art Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Paper, Lithograph, Offset
Symbolic Self-Portrait with Equals
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
A very good impression of this color offset lithograph on white, thick, smooth Louvain Supreme Vellum Bristol 150-pound paper. Signed and numbered 190/300 in pencil. Printed by Color...
Category
1970s Pop Art Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Vellum, Color, Lithograph, Offset
Constructivist Castle in Blue Tones, Primary Shapes Handmade Cyanotype Monotype
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes.
It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...
Category
2010s Constructivist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Emulsion, Watercolor, Monotype, Photogram
Antoni Tapies Post Modern Abstract Expressionist Aquatint
By Antoni Tàpies
Located in Surfside, FL
Size includes frame. There is a plate impression at the image that leads me to believe this is an aquatint.
Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquis of Tàpies (Catalan: 13 December 1923 – ...
Category
20th Century Abstract Expressionist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Etching, Aquatint
Nocturnal Abstracted Full Moon Lava Landscape Lithograph #2
By Patricia A. Pearce
Located in Soquel, CA
Dramatic and compelling abstract lithograph of an abstracted lava-like form or glowing skyline under a full moon on a pitch black background by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948)...
Category
1980s Abstract Expressionist Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Lithograph
H 29.5 in W 10.25 in D 0.03 in
DEMOCRATIC PARTY HUMAN RIGHTS DINNER
By Robert Rauschenberg
Located in Aventura, FL
Offset lithograph on hodgkins handmade paper. Hand signed and numbered in pencil by the artist. Certificate of authenticity included. Edition of 100. Framed. All reasonable offers w...
Category
1980s Modern Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Handmade Paper, Lithograph, Offset
Previously Available Items
Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Fletcher Benton
By Fletcher Benton
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Fletcher Benton, American (1931 - )
Title: Untitled
Year: 1968
Medium: Silkscreen, Signed, numbered, and dated in pencil
Edition: 27/100
Size: 28.5 x 28.5 in. (72.39 x...
Category
1960s Abstract Geometric Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Screen
Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Fletcher Benton
By Fletcher Benton
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Fletcher Benton, American (1931 - )
Title: Untitled
Year: 1968
Medium: Silkscreen, Signed, numbered, and dated in pencil
Edition: 93/100
Size: 28.5 x 28.5 in. (72.39 x...
Category
1960s Abstract Geometric Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Screen
Geometric Abstract Screenprint by Fletcher Benton
By Fletcher Benton
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Fletcher Benton, American (1931 - )
Title: Untitled
Year: 1968
Medium: Silkscreen, Signed, numbered, and dated in pencil
Edition: 34/100
Size: 28.5 x 28.5 in. (72.39 x...
Category
1960s Abstract Geometric Fletcher Benton Art
Materials
Screen
Fletcher Benton art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Fletcher Benton art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Fletcher Benton in etching and more. Not every interior allows for large Fletcher Benton art, so small editions measuring 19 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Roman Cieslewicz, and Natalia Goncharova. Fletcher Benton art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $2,800 and tops out at $2,800, while the average work can sell for $2,800.