Contemporary New York City-based artist Mark Beard has long demonstrated command in a variety of mediums — he works in oil paint, bronze, ceramics and more. Beard is known mainly for his portraits and figurative paintings, but he is prolific in figurative drawing and nude photography as well.
Beard was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1986, he began working as a set designer, and for the next decade, he created more than 20 sets in New York City, London, Frankfurt, Vienna and Cologne. As a painter and printmaker, Beard didn’t wish to confine himself to a rigid style and instead sought to explore Impressionism, Art Nouveau and other movements in a range of mediums. In order to freely move from one style to the next, Beard created several different personas, assigning a specific biography to each one.
Beard's most prominent artistic alter ego is Bruce Sargeant, whom the artist has positioned in exhibitions as an early 20th-century painter. Beard's work as Sargeant is a detailed study of the male physique. The paintings often feature sculpted athletic men engaged in physical activities like wrestling and rowing. The work is steeped in homoeroticism, and the artist’s name itself is a reference to painter John Singer Sargent — while he’s best known for his Edwardian-era portraits, John Singer Sargent also created murals and drawings of male nudes that were similarly reflective of a homoerotic sensibility.
Beard is also an accomplished landscape painter. His great-grandfather, George Beard, was a regional painter and photographer of the Rocky Mountains. Mark spent summers at his grandfather's 19th-century log cabin retreat as a child. These formative experiences are reflected in his own stunning landscape paintings.
Beard's artwork is held in many high-profile museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Today, Beard resides in the Manhattan loft that he purchased in 1994 with his partner, James Manfred. It serves as both his home and his studio. The space is filled with his oil paintings, drawings and sculptures.
On 1stDibs, find Mark Beard paintings, drawings, photography and more.
Untitled 13 (Mark Beard Polaroid Transfer of Young Male Nude on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 10 x 8 inches Young male sitting against dark background Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom right corner. ed...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Kissing Priests (Polaroid Transfer of Embracing Clergymen on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Kissing Priests image size: 8 x 10 inches Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom right corn...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Untitled (Male Nude in Shadow)
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Polaroid transfer on Rives BFK paper Signed, dated, and inscribed (AP) in pencil, recto Also blindstamped, l.r. 22 x 15 inches, sheet 10 x 8 inches, image This artwork is offered b...
Photogravure
Tennessee Williams (Polaroid Transfer of American Playwright his Reflection)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 8 x 10 inches Portrait of Tennessee Williams Unique Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in penci...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Untitled No. 51
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Polaroid transfer on Rives BFK paper Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, recto Also blindstamped, l.r. 22 x 15 inches, sheet 10 x 8 inches, image This artwork is offered by Clam...
Photogravure
![[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Man in Suspenders Amidst the Cattails](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/mark-beard-photography-bruce-sargeant-1898-1938-man-in-suspenders-amidst-the-cattails-for-sale/a_9323/a_50422621569347500883/Beard_Sargeant_Man_in_Suspenders_Amidst_the_Cattails_1stdibs_master.jpg?width=240)
[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Man in Suspenders Amidst the Cattails
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.l. $6500.00 + $300.00 framing This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Bruce Sargeant is a mythic figure in the modern art mo...
Canvas, Oil
Untitled (Stooped Man with Bowl of Fruit)
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Polaroid transfer on Rives BFK paper Signed, dated, and numbered (5/6) in pencil, recto Also blindstamped, l.r. 22 x 15 inches, sheet 8 x 10 inches, image This artwork is offered b...
Photogravure
Untitled 25 (Figurative Drawing Polaroid Transfer of a Boy in Cowboy Costume)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
Figurative, Polaroid transfer of a young boy in vintage cowboy costume against an orange background PT 25, Made in 1998 Edition 1 of 6 9 x 7 in...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
$662Sale Price|20% Off
H 19.69 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
I always was your girl
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
I was always your Girl - 2018, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Digital C-print, based on an original Polaroid. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL201...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Polaroid, Archival Paper, Black and White
$800
H 18.9 in W 18.12 in D 0.04 in
Once We Were Warriors (Stage of Consciousness) starring Radha Mitchell
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Once We Were Warriors (Stage of Consciousness) - part of the 29 Palms, CA project - 2007 - featuring Radha Mitchell 48x46cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. digital C-Print, ...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Polaroid, Color
Everlong
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Everlong - 2016, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs Archival C-Print, based on a Polaroid. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL2016-2003. Not mounted. K...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
$828
H 15.75 in W 15.75 in D 0.04 in
Missing, 50x50cm, 21st Century, Polaroid, Nude Photography
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Missing -2018 50x50cm, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival Print, based on an original Polaroid. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL2016-458. No...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
All that Glitters ain't Gold
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
All that Glitters ain't Gold - 2017, 20x20cm, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print based on the original Polaroid. Signature label with certificate. Artist inven...
Archival Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid, Photographic Paper
$380
H 7.88 in W 7.88 in D 0.04 in
Doll - Polaroid, Contemporary, Women, Nude
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Doll - 2017 - 20x20cm, Edition 4/7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Digital C-print, based on an original Polaroid. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL2017-128. ...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
Male Nude
Located in London, GB
Fresson print, inscribed ‘LAG 17033’ (verso), 29cm x 23cm (on view), 37cm x 30.5cm (sheet size), (48cm x 41cm framed). The photograph is framed to the line and crop indicated by the photographer on the print, behind museum quality UV non-reflective glass. (A Fresson print is a type of photographic printing, created in 1899, that has been passed down in the family for four generations. Still to this day, the Fresson family keeps some elements of the process a secret but make sure it stays alive. Located in the outskirts of Paris, their workshop is the only one in the world to produce such prints.) Albin-Guillot studied drawing and painting before becoming interested in photography. In 1925, she went on to have the first one-person exhibition at the Paris Autumn Salon. She also served as president of the French Societe des Artistes Photographes and in June 1928, was included in the first independent Salon of Photography in Paris. Published in 1932, she took a series of male nudes taken for Henry de Motherlant’s La Deesse Cypris. The strongly cropped images in which the male nudes fill the entire frame accompany the author’s text about sensuality. In 1933, she collaborated with the poet Paul Valery...
Black and White
$800
H 19.69 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
Drive-in Dreams (Bombay Beach) - Contemporary, Polaroid, Women, 21st Century
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Drive-In Dreams (Bombay Beach) - 2019 50x50cm, Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print based on the Polaroid, not mounted. Signature label and certificate. Artist ...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
Ode to Goya's Maya
By E2 - Kleinveld & Julien
Located in New Orleans, LA
10.5 x 16 inches - Edition 3 of 7 with 2 APs framing is an additional $265. Photography and acting are kindred spirits in the new series by e2 (Elizabeth Kleinveld...
Archival Pigment
Aftermath
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Aftermath - 2016 50x50cm. Edition of 7 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on a Polaroid. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL2016-217. Not mo...
Archival Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
Footballer - Foro Italia
Located in London, GB
C-Print, signed, titled and edition ‘3/15’ (recto), and certificate of authenticity (verso), 37cm x 56cm (image size), (59cm x 75cm framed). (Provenance: in the collection of the art...
Pigment
All that glitters ain't gold
By Kirsten Thys van den Audenaerde
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
All that glitters ain't gold, 2017, Edition 1/7 plus 2 Artist Proof Based on a Polaroid, digital C-print, not mounted. Signed on the back and with certificate. Artist inventory PL201...
Archival Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
Despot Atelier
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Polaroid transfer on Rives BFK paper Signed, titled, dated, and inscribed "AP" in pencil, recto Also blindstamped, l.r. 22 x 15 inches, sheet size 10 x 8 inches, image size This a...
Photogravure
Self Portrait at 45
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Polaroid transfer on Rives BFK paper Signed, titled, dated, and inscribed (AP) in pencil, recto Also blindstamped, l.r. 22 x 15 inches, sheet 10 x 8 inches, image This artwork is o...
Photogravure
Marc (with Cigarette)
By Mark Beard
Located in New York, NY
Polaroid transfer on Rives BFK paper Signed, titled, dated, and inscribed "Unique" in pencil, recto Also blindstamped, l.r. 22 x 15 inches, sheet 10 x 8 inches, image This artwork ...
Photogravure
Sold
H 22 in W 15 in
Untitled 14 (Polaroid Transfer of Standing Young Nude Male on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 10 x 8 inches Standing male nude against a blue background Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom right corner. ...
Archival Paper, Polaroid