Larry Rivers Prints and Multiples

Larry Rivers What Did I Do? The Unauthorized Biography, 1992 Lithograph on wove paper Hand signed, numbered 3/325 and dated on lower right front Frame In...

Larry Rivers "The Music Festival of the Hamptons / July 18-27 1997" poster, Not hand signed. [Dimensions: 24" H x 18" W] Larry Rivers (born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg) (1923 – 2002) was an American artist, musician, filmmaker, and occasional actor. Considered by many scholars to be the "Godfather" and "Grandfather" of Pop art, he was one of the first artists to merge non-objective, non-narrative art with narrative and objective abstraction. Rivers took up painting in 1945 and studied at the Hans Hofmann School from 1947–48. He earned a BA in art education from New York University in 1951. His work was quickly acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. A 1953 painting Washington Crossing the Delaware was damaged in fire at the museum five years later. He was a pop artist of the New York School, reproducing everyday objects of American popular culture as art. He was one of eleven New York artists featured in the opening exhibition at the Terrain Gallery in 1955 along with Paul Mommer, Leonard Baskin, Peter Grippe During the early 1960s Rivers lived in the Hotel Chelsea, notable for its artistic residents such as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Leonard Cohen, Arthur C. Clarke, Dylan Thomas, Sid Vicious and multiple people associated with Andy Warhol Factory and where he brought several of his French nouveau réalistes friends like Yves Klein who wrote there in April 1961 his Manifeste de l'hôtel Chelsea, Arman, Martial Raysse, Jean Tinguely, Niki de Saint-Phalle, Christo & Jean Claude, Daniel Spoerri or Alain Jacquet, several of whom, like Rivers, left some pieces of art in the lobby of the hotel for payment of their rooms. In 1965, Rivers had his first comprehensive retrospective in five important American museums. His final work for the exhibition was The History of the Russian Revolution, which was later on extended permanent display at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. He spent 1967 in London collaborating with the American painter Howard Kanovitz. In 1968, Rivers traveled to Africa for a second time with Pierre Dominique Gaisseau to finish their documentary Africa and I, which was a part of the groundbreaking NBC series Experiments in Television. During this trip they narrowly escaped execution as suspected mercenaries. During the 1970s, Rivers worked closely with Diana Molinari and Michel Auder on many video tape projects, including the infamous Tits, and also worked in neon. Rivers's legs appeared in John Lennon and Yoko Ono's 1971 film Up Your Legs Forever. From 1940–1945 he worked as a jazz saxophonist in New York City, changing his name to Larry Rivers in 1940 after being introduced as "Larry Rivers and the Mudcats" at a local pub. He studied at the Juilliard School of Music in 1945–46, along with Miles Davis, with whom he remained friends until Davis's death in 1991. Larry Rivers was born in the Bronx to Samuel and Sonya Grossberg, Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. In 1945, he married Augusta Berger, and they had one son, Steven. Rivers also adopted Berger's son from a previous relationship, Joseph, and reared both children after the couple divorced. In 1949 he had his first one-man exhibition at the Jane Street Gallery in New York. This same year, he met and became friends with John Ashbery, and Kenneth Koch. In 1950 he met Frank O’Hara. This same year he took his first trip to Europe spending eight months in Paris, France, reading and writing poetry. Beginning in 1950 and continuing until Frank’s death in July of 1966, Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara cultivated a uniquely creative friendship that produced numerous collaborations, as well as inspired paintings and poems. In 1951 Rivers’ works were shown at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery where he continued to show annually (except 1955) for about 10 years. In 1954 he had his first exhibition of sculptures at the Stable Gallery, New York. In 1955 The Museum of Modern Art acquired Washington Crossing the Delaware. This same year he won 3rd prize in the Corcoran Gallery national painting competition for “Self-Figure.” Rivers’ also painted “Double Portrait of Berdie” in 1955, which was soon purchased by the Whitney Museum. In 1957 he and Frank O’Hara began work on “Stones,” a collaborative mix of images and poetry in a series of lithograph for Tatyana Grosman company ULAE. During this time he also appeared on the television game show “The $64,000.00 Question” where along with another contestant, they both won, each receiving $32,000.00. In 1958 he again spent time in Paris and played in various jazz bands. In 1959 he painted Cedar Bar Menu...

Artist: Larry Rivers Title: Carnegie Hall Year: 1990 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 4/60 Paper Size: 57 x 40 inches

Artist: Larry Rivers (American, 1923–2002) Title: Fred and Ginger Date: 1999 Medium: Lithograph, unsigned proof Paper Size: 40 x 35 in. (101.6 x 88.9 cm)

Artist: Larry Rivers, American (1923 - 2002) Title: Homage to Pablo Picasso Year: 1994 Medium: Silkscreen, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 19/30 Image Size: 24 x 28 inches Siz...

silkscreen edition of 150