John Hardy was born in Tours, France, on March 23, 1923, to Charles Crum Hardy and the former Jacqueline Gadois. He lived in Brooklyn from age 1 to 6, when his family relocated to suburban Long Island. His mother died when he was 8, after which he was sent to live with another family in Roanoke, Va., while his father remained in New York. As a teenager, he lived with an aunt in Guilford, N.C He spent his childhood in various parts of the country including New York, Virginia, and North Carolina, and later lived in Florida and Georgia. His travels outside the USA include Europe, Greece, Egypt, Kenya, Uganda, the Caribbean Islands, Panama, and Mexico.
In 1942, he married Betty Blackman, with whom he lived for 26 years and raised four children. He served in the Army from 1940 to 1945, spending 16 months in Europe during World War II. At age 52, he moved to New York City with Page Ogden, to whom he was married for 12 years. He subsequently lived with Naomi Lionni, who died in 1992.
He taught drawing and painting from 1958 to 1981, first at the Atlanta College of Art, and subsequently at the College of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology and at New York University. A figurative painter known especially for his portraits, cityscapes, and seascapes, his work captured the depth and complexity of his subjects with empathy, humor, and, in some cases, astute social commentary.
According to Gail Levin, an art historian, professor, and author specializing in the art of the 20th and 21st centuries, “Like those of [Edward] Hopper and [Reginald] Marsh, Hardy’s paintings often imply multi-layered meanings, enabling him to distill the essence of a cultural moment. . . . He selects and manipulates with an uncanny power, achieving ironic realism.”
John C. Hardy, an artist and teacher who lived in SoHo and Springs, died of complications from a stroke at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City on Oct. 10 2014 in the company of Joan Semmel, his companion for the past 21 years. He was 91.
Holy War
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Holy War John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Oil on Canvas Image Size: 30 x 40 inches Size: 35 x 45 in. (88.9 x 114.3 cm)
Oil
Zengeist (Mask)
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Zengeist (Mask) John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1998 Oil on Wood, signed Size: 48 x 32 in. (121.92 x 81.28 cm) Reference: Bool 405
Oil, Wood
Page Ogden and The Kitchen
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
This oil painting is a portrait of artist Page Ogden capturing a moment in time when she was sitting at a table reading a book by American artist John Hardy.
Canvas, Oil
Soldiers and Rabbits from the Waiting with Walls series
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Soldiers and Rabbits from the Waiting with Walls series John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1971 Oil on Canvas, signed lower left Size: 59 x 60 in. (149...
Oil
Return of Time #5
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Return of Time #5 John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1990 Oil on Canvas, signed lower right Size: 35 x 105 in. (88.9 x 266.7 cm)
Oil
LD5-378
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
LD5-378 John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Oil on Canvas Image Size: 30 x 40 inches Size: 35 x 45 in. (88.9 x 114.3 cm)
Oil
Return of Time #14, Large Beach Seascape Painting by John Hardy
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Return of Time #14 John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1991 Oil on Canvas, signed lower right Size: 14.75 x 70 in. (38 x 177.8 cm)
Oil
Disconnect
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Disconnect John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1998 Oil on Wood, signed Size: 24 x 18 in. (60.96 x 45.72 cm)
Oil
Edge
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Edge John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1997 Oil on Wood, signed Size: 24 x 18 in. (60.96 x 45.72 cm)
Oil
Pedestrian Bridge Overpass
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Pedestrian Bridge Overpass John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 2008 Oil on Canvas, signed lower right Size: 53 x 64 in. (134.62 x 162.56 cm)
Oil
New Holy Wars
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
New Holy Wars John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Oil on Canvas Image Size: 36 x 59 inches Size: 40.75 x 64 in. (103.51 x 162.56 cm)
Oil
$18,000
Run
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Run John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1996 Oil on Canvas, signed Size: 36 x 66 in. (91.44 x 167.64 cm)
Oil
Target
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Target John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Oil on Canvas, signed lower left Size: 68 x 102.5 in. (172.72 x 260.35 cm)
Oil
People on Display
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
People on Display John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Oil on Canvas Image Size: 30 x 40 inches Size: Size: 36 x 46 in. (91.44 x 116.84 cm)
Oil
Blessing, Nude Oil Painting on Wood by John Hardy
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Blessing John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1997 Oil on Wood, signed Size: 24 x 18 in. (60.96 x 45.72 cm)
Wood, Oil
Racing the Moon
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Racing the Moon John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1991 Oil on Canvas, signed Size: 10 x 34 in. (25.4 x 86.36 cm)
Oil
Deep Blue
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Deep Blue John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1995 Oil on Board, signed verso Size: 18 x 24 in. (45.72 x 60.96 cm)
Oil
The Morning After
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
The Morning After John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 2007 Oil on Canvas, signed Size: 48 x 60 in. (121.92 x 152.4 cm)
Oil
Price Upon Request
Day at the Dunes
By John Hardy (Artist)
Located in Long Island City, NY
Day at the Dunes John Hardy, American (1923–2014) Date: 1975 Acrylic on Canvas, signed verso Size: 61 x 97.25 inches
Oil
$2,300Sale Price|50% Off
H 24 in W 28 in D 2 in
God Bless Our Home, Social Realist Scene, Figurative Americana Interior Scene
Located in Doylestown, PA
"God Bless Our Home" is an interior and figurative scene of a woman sitting on her couch in serious and proper expression. The Americana style paint...
Canvas, Oil
$143,400
H 48 in W 36 in D 2 in
Mother & Child Oil Painting on Canvas, Abstract Figurative, 2016
By Christopher Mudgett
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mother & Child, 2016 By Christopher Mudgett This powerful and emotive original oil painting from the artist's 2016 "Mother & Child" series encapsulates a profound moment of ...
Canvas, Oil
$1,328
H 5.91 in W 7.88 in D 1.19 in
Landscape 03 - 21st Century Contemporary Impressionistic Landscape Painting
By Frank Dekkers
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Frank Dekkers Landscape 03 15 x 20 cm (framed, included in price 20 x 25 cm) oil on Panel About the artist: Frank Dekkers, an outdoor painter, but not a "square painter" as we know...
Oil, Wood Panel
$1,328
H 5.91 in W 7.88 in D 1.19 in
Landscape 14 - 21st Century Contemporary Impressionistic Landscape Painting
By Frank Dekkers
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Frank Dekkers Landscape 14 15 x 20 cm (framed, included in price 20 x 25 cm) oil on Panel About the artist: Frank Dekkers, an outdoor painter, but not a "square painter" as we know...
Oil, Wood Panel
$775
H 4.73 in W 3.94 in D 1.38 in
On a Late Summer Day - 21st century Contemporary landscape Painting of the Dunes
By Marein Konijn
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Marein Konijn On a Late Summer Day 12 x 10 cm (Framed, included in price 17 x 15 cm) Large monumental landscapes without color, small landscapes with countless shades of green, figu...
Oil, Wood Panel
$18,500
H 20 in W 18 in
"Old Shoemaker" Ashcan 20th Century Modernism 1924 California WPA Realism Worker
By Otis Oldfield
Located in New York, NY
"Old Shoemaker" Ashcan 20th Century Modernism 1924 California WPA Realism Worker. Signed “Otis Oldfield” lower left. 14 x 12 inches. Exhibited: Galerie des Beaux Arts, San Francisco, CA, 1925 Provenance: Estate of the Artist Born in Sacramento, CA on July 3, 1890, Otis Oldfield left high school at age 16 to work in a local print shop. In 1909 he arrived in San Francisco and enrolled at the Best Art School. After working for two years as a bellhop at the Argonaut Hotel and as a hat check boy at the Cliff House, he had saved enough money for further studies in Paris. In 1911 he sailed for France and enrolled at Académie Julian. Caught up in the activities of wartime Paris, he was an apprentice for a book...
Canvas, Oil
$1,700
H 12 in W 12 in D 1.5 in
Anatomy Lesson, Segment 10 (Small Figure Painting of Two Muscular Nude Males)
By Robert Goldstrom
Located in Hudson, NY
Anatomy Lesson, Segment 10 (modern figurative oil painting of two nude men from upper thigh to chest) by Robert Goldstrom 2024 oil on linen 12 x 12 inches signed and in excellent con...
Linen, Oil
$456Sale Price|52% Off
H 10.24 in W 13 in
Small Fauvist River Landscape Painting with Boat, Expressionist Oil on Panel
By Vladimir Ksieski
Located in Sitges, Barcelona
Small Fauvist River Landscape Painting with Boat, Expressionist Oil on Panel Medium: Oil on panel Dimensions: 26 x 33 cm (10.24 x 13 in) Framing: Unframed Signature: Signed lower left Date: c.2020 Condition: Good condition. Stable support and well-preserved paint layer. A vibrant small-scale landscape painting depicting a river scene with a boat, industrial architecture and simplified human figures. Executed with a loose and expressive brushwork, the composition reflects a strong fauvist and expressionist influence. The artist uses bold contrasts of reds, yellows, greens and blues to create a dynamic and almost naïve atmosphere, reminiscent of early 20th-century European modernism reinterpreted through a contemporary lens. Despite its modest size, the painting has a strong visual presence, making it ideal for collectors of small-format works or for curated gallery wall compositions. Vladimir Ksieski...
Board, Oil
$1,328
H 5.91 in W 7.88 in D 1.19 in
Landscape 20 - 21st Century Contemporary Impressionistic Landscape Painting
By Frank Dekkers
Located in Nuenen, Noord Brabant
Frank Dekkers Landscape 20 15 x 20 cm (framed, included in price 20 x 25 cm) oil on Panel About the artist: Frank Dekkers, an outdoor painter, but not a "square painter" as we know...
Oil, Wood Panel
$245,900
H 60 in W 48 in D 3 in
Woman & Dog, Monumental Oil Painting, Signed, 60x48 Inches, 2017
By Christopher Mudgett
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Woman and Dog Christopher Mudgett Oil on canvas 2023 48 x 36 in (121.9 x 91.4 cm) Signed by the artist Certificate of authenticity included Available from the artist’s studio In W...
Canvas, Oil
$1,700
H 12 in W 12 in D 1.5 in
Anatomy Lesson, Segment 13 (Square Figure Painting of Nude Men, Waist to Knees)
By Robert Goldstrom
Located in Hudson, NY
Anatomy Lesson, Segment 13 (modern figurative oil painting of two nude men from waist to knees) by Robert Goldstrom 2024 oil on linen 12 x 12 inches signed and in excellent condition...
Linen, Oil
$125,400
H 48 in W 36 in D 2 in
Woman with Clasped Hands, Contemporary Oil on Canvas, 48x36, 2017
By Christopher Mudgett
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Woman with Clasped Hands, 2017 by Christopher Mudgett A striking embodiment of strength and introspection, Woman with Clasped Hands (2017) challenges traditional portrayals of the f...
Canvas, Oil