Skip to main content

John Baldessari Photography

American, 1931-2020

Although Conceptual artist John Baldessari is best known for the richly provocative juxtapositions of photographic images and text that characterize his prints and paintings, he actually had something of a traditional art world upbringing — if such a thing exists.

Born in Southern California, Baldessari earned several art degrees, from art education to art history to painting. He also taught art at various institutions such as the California Institute of the Arts throughout his life. Among his many students were David Salle, Tony Oursler, Jim Shaw and Mike Kelley. While helping to shape the art world in Los Angeles, he simultaneously developed his own name as an artist.

In the 1950s, Baldessari’s works were primarily semiabstract paintings, but during the late 1960s, he began to distance himself from painting, as he bristled at the idea of limiting art to a single medium. Baldessari decided to take his career in a dramatically different direction. He burned all his paintings at a funeral home in San Diego, then incorporated the ashes into cookie dough, producing (nonedible) baked goods for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

“It was a very public and symbolic act,” he said, “like announcing you’re going on a diet in order to stick to it.”

From that point on, Baldessari took on an MO of experimentation, dabbling in mediums from video to printmaking to sculpture. “I just stare at something and say: Why isn’t that art? Why couldn’t that be art?” he said in an interview in 2008.

The works for which Baldessari is most highly regarded, however, are striking collages of images and text — many of which are seemingly nonsensical — such as Tom’s Hand Grips the Steering, Wheel… (2015), in which the title’s text is displayed beneath a hippopotamus. As such is his body of work: bringing a sense of joviality to the sometimes too-serious world of Conceptual art.

Before he died in 2020, Baldessari was honored with the 2014 National Medal of Arts Award, the Americans for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award, the Venice Biennale’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement and more.

Find original John Baldessari art on 1stDibs.

to
6
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
7
4
6
1
7
4
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
1
1
1
1
63
8,809
2,806
1,317
1,187
1
7
Artist: John Baldessari
Signed John Baldessari print 1991 (Baldessari Love and Work)
By John Baldessari
Located in NEW YORK, NY
John Baldessari Love and Work 1991: Baldessari’s Love & Work 1991, photogravure and color aquatint, features clasped hands clutching surrealistically amidst a black background. Classic, timeless Baldessari imagery that is sure to work well in any setting. Medium: Color photogravure and aquatint on wove paper. 1991. Dimensions: 26 x 11.5 inches. Well-preserved and in very good overall condition. Framed in acrylic plexiglass. One of the 15 numbered artist's proofs, aside from the general edition of 60. Signed, inscribed "A.P." and numbered 12/15 in pencil, lower margin. Published by Brooke Alexander, Inc., New York. Collections: MoMa New York John Baldessari: It is hard to characterize John Baldessari's varied practice—which includes photomontage, artist’s books, prints, paintings, film, performance, and installation—except through his approach of good-humored irreverence. Baldessari is commonly associated with Conceptual or Minimalist art, though he has called this characterization “a little bit boring.” His two-dimensional works often incorporate found images, composed in layers or presented as distinct pieces with an element of surprise, like a brightly colored geometric shape in the place of a face or a starkly printed sardonic caption. Baldessari has demonstrated a lasting interest in language and semantics, articulating these concerns through the use of puns or the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated images and words, as in his 1978 work Blasted Allegories. His self-referencing photomontages and use of text have been sources of inspiration for countless artists, including Cindy Sherman, David Salle, and Barbara Kruger. Baldessari identifies his own artistic lineage, saying, "I would prefer to go to the source with Duchamp rather than credit Warhol as an influence." Related Categories: Surrealist. Ed Ruscha. Los Angeles. Conceptual art. Photography. Minimalist. John Baldessari prints.
Category

1990s Pop Art John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Aquatint, Photogravure, Lithograph, Screen

National City (4)
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 12 Color photographs with acrylic paint
Category

1990s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

National City (6)
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
Edition of 12 Color photographs with acrylic paint
Category

1990s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

C Print

National City (W)
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
Edition 10/12 Color photographs with acrylic paint
Category

1990s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

C Print

National City 5
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
1 from a series of 8 color photographs with acrylic paint
Category

20th Century Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

C Print

National City 2
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
1 from a series of 8 color photographs with acrylic paint
Category

20th Century Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper

National City 1
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
1 from a series of 8 color photographs with acrylic paint
Category

20th Century Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Mixed Media

Related Items
Orlando
By Patricia McDonough
Located in Hudson, NY
Price for UNFRAMED item The Robin Rice Gallery proudly announces SUMMERTIME Salon 2018, an annual photography exhibit featuring gallery artists as well as a few newcomers. This year’s opening reception will be held on Wednesday, June 27th from 6 – 8 PM, and the show will be on view until September 23rd, 2018 Rice has brought together the works of 55 gallery artists and nearly a hundred photographs for this salon-style exhibition. From floor to ceiling, the walls of the gallery are a mosaic of various size photographs in sepia, color and black & white, expertly hung to fit together like pieces of a puzzle. “This is my favorite exhibition even though it takes months to curate and a week to install,” says Rice. “I love the moment when a viewer is first drawn to an image. Sometimes in’s indefinable; a moment when the viewer not only shares but reconnects to an experience remembered.” Each year, the Summertime Salon matures and Rice’s annual masterpiece is revealed to showcase an exhibition stronger than the year before. Rice has a close relationship with the works of her photographers, and strategically curates the show to best exemplify the artists’ strengths, remaining cohesively linked by Rice’s aesthetic. This year’s invitational image, Hoop and Ball by Nenad Samuilo Amodaj is from a series of one hundred photographs. Rice chose three photographs from Amodaj’s series to create a triptych on the back wall of her gallery for this exhibition. The invitational image is of a standing semi-nude woman in profile wearing a hoop skirt. Her entire head rests inside of a large white plaster ball that she holds above her. He explained: “I wanted to explore the abstract architectural properties of the hoop skirt, a clothing item with curious geometric form that appears both in nature and in the world of artifice.” Before photographing the model he created numerous figure drawings that helped solidify his vision for the series. Male nude...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

C Print

Orlando
$2,500
H 30 in W 30 in
John Baldessari, Hand and Chin (with Entwined Hands) - Signed Print
By John Baldessari
Located in Hamburg, DE
John Baldessari (American, 1931-2020) Hand and Chin (With Entwined Hands), 1991 Medium: Photogravure with color spit bite aquatint on Somerset Dimensions: 83,5 x 56,5cm (33 x 22 in) ...
Category

19th Century Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Paper, Aquatint, Photogravure

Sundays (Heavenly Falls) - Contemporary, 21st Century, Polaroid, Nude
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Sundays (Heavenly Falls) - 2016 20x20cm, Edition of 10, Digital C-Print based on the Polaroid. Certificate and signature label, artist inventory number: 19502. Not mounted. Stefa...
Category

2010s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Polaroid, Color, C Print, Archival Paper

Study for Sculpture in the Form of an Inverted Q Above and Below Ground
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
This work is a study for Inverted Q, a large sculpture that Oldenburg created after producing many sketches and small models. At the time he was experimenting with concepts of monume...
Category

1970s Pop Art John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Etching, Aquatint, Lithograph

Study for Sculpture in the Form of an Inverted Q Above & Below Ground Oldenburg
By Claes Oldenburg
Located in New York, NY
Study for Sculpture in the Form of an Inverted Q: Above and Below Ground, 1975 Lithograph, soft-ground etching, and aquatint in six colors on cream, thick, slightly textured Rive BFK paper 14 × 11 in. / 35.2 × 28 cm Signed and dated in pencil, lower right, numbered in pencil, lower left. Edition of 100 with 20 AP. Printed by Bill Law, Winston Roeth and Allan Uglow at Petersburg Press...
Category

1970s Pop Art John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Etching, Aquatint, Lithograph

Visionnaire # 23 The Emperor's new clothes
By Karl Lagerfeld
Located in CANNES, FR
KARL LAGERFELD ( 1933 -2019 ) Visionnaire# 23 The Emperor's new Clothes ( 1997 ) . numbered of 5000 editions . Magazine / Art portfolio / 1st edition . 36 x 29 cm . Fashion designe...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Photographic Paper, Archival Paper, Photogravure, Archival Pigment

Visionnaire # 23 The Emperor's new clothes
Visionnaire # 23 The Emperor's new clothes
$894 Sale Price
57% Off
H 14.18 in W 11.42 in
Stefanie Schneider Polaroid sized unlimited Mini 'Athena and Henry' - signed
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Stefanie Schneider Polaroid sized unlimited Mini 'Athena and Henry (Stay)' - 2006 - featuring Elisabeth Reaser and Ryan Gosling signed in front, not mounted. 1 Archival Color Photog...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, C Print, Color, Lambda, Polaroid

Ephemera
By Ida Applebroog
Located in New York, NY
Available individually ($2500), and as a suite of five ($12,000). Born in Bronx, NY, Ida Applebroog attended NY State Institute of Applied Arts and Sciences (1949). She moved to C...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Aquatint, Photogravure

Ephemera
Ephemera
$2,500
H 15 in W 12 in
Come walk with me - Contemporary, Nude, Women, Polaroid, 21st Century
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Come walk with me - 2020 - 20x20cm, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print based on a Polaroid. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL2020-100...
Category

2010s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

I am leaving! (Till Death do us Part) - Polaroid, Contemporary
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
I am leaving! (Till Death do us Part) - 2007 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist ...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid

Joanna Lumley , Ab Fab, Carnegie Tower, NYC 1994 colour limited edition print
Located in Norwich, GB
Iconic and rare limited edition print direct from the negative, signed lower right hand margin and stamped with photographers own blind stamp. This is Number 8/25. Image measures 36 ...
Category

20th Century Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print

Flashlight Girl. Limited Edition of 36 by Yoshitomo Nara, signed
By Yoshitomo Nara
Located in Hong Kong, HK
Yoshitomo Nara Flashlight Girl (2002-2004), Edition 13/36. Photogravure and aquatint, on wove paper. Image: 48 x 38 cm. Sheet: 48 x 38 cm. Published by KIDO Press, Inc., Tokyo (with...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Aquatint, Photogravure

Previously Available Items
Millennium Piece (With Blue Apple)
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
Iris print (Edition of 100) Signed and numbered, recto It is hard to characterize John Baldessari's varied practice—which includes photomontage, artist’s books, prints, paintings,...
Category

1990s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Color

Learn to Read
By John Baldessari
Located in London, GB
Offset Lithograph on coated satin white stock paper 22.00 x 17.00 in (55.9 x 43.2 cm) Produced in a limited edition (exact edition size believed to be c.1,000). Sold in excellent ...
Category

Early 2000s Conceptual John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Lithograph

Millennium Piece (With Blue Apple)
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
Iris print (Edition of 100) Signed and numbered, recto\ This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. It is hard to characterize John Baldessari's varied practice—...
Category

1990s Contemporary John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Color

Millennium Piece (With Blue Apple)
By John Baldessari
Located in New York, NY
Iris print Signed and numbered, recto (Edition of 100) This work is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. About the artist: It is hard to characterize John Baldessari's var...
Category

1990s Post-Modern John Baldessari Photography

Materials

Color

Blue Masterstroke over Red Diagram and Two Cowboys
By John Baldessari
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Edition of 60. Signed by the artist lower right under image. Edition number lower right under image. Includes custom white wood frame in UV acrylic.
Category

20th Century John Baldessari Photography

John Baldessari photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic John Baldessari photography available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of photography 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 John Baldessari in c print, aquatint, archival ink 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 John Baldessari photography, so small editions measuring 12 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Anthony Goicolea, Bill Jacobson, and William Greiner. John Baldessari photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,000 and tops out at $14,268, while the average work can sell for $8,300.

Recently Viewed

View All