Skip to main content

Nancy Graves Sculptures

American, 1939-1995
A sculptor of animals and American Indian shamanistic objects, filmmaker, and painter, Nancy Graves had a highly successful and varied career, primarily in New York City. In her abstract work, she united her interest in anthropology, totemic objects, cartography, and biomorphic shapes. She was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and became a graduate of Vassar College in 1961 and then Yale University's School of Art and Architecture. Graves won a Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship for painting, allowing her to spend a year in Paris in 1964-65. In the next few years, she traveled in North Africa and the Near East and lived and worked in Florence, Italy where she did her first signature work, which was sculptures of life-size Bactrian camels. In 1966, she moved to New York City and further experimented with ways to produced these sculptures by building wood and steel armatures, covering them with skins of animal embryos, stuffing the skins with polyurethane to form humps, and tinting the skins with oil paints. In 1968, she had her first New York one-woman show at the Graham Gallery followed by her second one-woman show at the Whitney Museum in 1969. Both exhibitions featured her camels. In 1972 at the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art, she made sculpture suggestive of Indian objects such as bones, skins, and feathers and added also steel rods to this motif for other exhibitions. As a filmmaker, she has had showings in film festivals in London, New York, and Boston. Source: Charlotte Rubinstein, "American Women Artists"
to
1
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
12
212
170
152
128
2
Artist: Nancy Graves
Famed sculptor Nancy Graves unique signed patinated bronze sculpture NY Award
Famed sculptor Nancy Graves unique signed patinated bronze sculpture NY Award

Famed sculptor Nancy Graves unique signed patinated bronze sculpture NY Award

By Nancy Graves

Located in New York, NY

Nancy Graves New York State Governor's Arts Award, 1988 Bronze, polychrome patina and baked enamel on base with Award plaque 10 1/4 × 7 × 10 1/4 inches Hand signed and dated with inc...

Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Bronze, Enamel

Rope Trap /// Abstract Expressionist Female Nancy Graves Huge Metal Sculpture NY
Rope Trap /// Abstract Expressionist Female Nancy Graves Huge Metal Sculpture NY

Rope Trap /// Abstract Expressionist Female Nancy Graves Huge Metal Sculpture NY

By Nancy Graves

Located in Saint Augustine, FL

Artist: Nancy Graves (American, 1939-1995) Title: "Rope Trap" *Titled, signed, and dated by Graves (inscribed into the metal) on red cylinder lower right Year: 1985 Medium: Original ...

Category

1980s Abstract Expressionist Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Bronze, Metal

Related Items
Modular Domino Wall Sculpture in Pink Foam Clay with Embedded Game Pieces
Modular Domino Wall Sculpture in Pink Foam Clay with Embedded Game Pieces

Modular Domino Wall Sculpture in Pink Foam Clay with Embedded Game Pieces

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

Compact modular domino wall sculpture in pink foam clay with embedded plastic game pieces on a black wood panel, a playful relief designed for repeatable multi-panel installation. A...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Combahee Night  - Abstract Black Sculptural Original Three-Dimensional Wall Art
Combahee Night  - Abstract Black Sculptural Original Three-Dimensional Wall Art

Combahee Night - Abstract Black Sculptural Original Three-Dimensional Wall Art

By Atticus Adams

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Atticus Adams' organically composed modern metal sculptures embody the transformative power of art, illustrating the creation of beauty, meaning, and emotional impact from industrial...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Metal, Wire

Pink Drip Wall Relief Sculpture From the Domino Series on Black Wood Panel
Pink Drip Wall Relief Sculpture From the Domino Series on Black Wood Panel

Pink Drip Wall Relief Sculpture From the Domino Series on Black Wood Panel

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

Pink drip wall relief sculpture from the Domino Series combining glossy sculptural texture, playful pastel elements, and contemporary pop minimalism on black wood panel. This vertic...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Spirit - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted, Welded Steel Sculpture
Spirit - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted, Welded Steel Sculpture

Spirit - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted, Welded Steel Sculpture

By Chris Hill

Located in Chicago, IL

This dynamic table sized sculpture is created from sheets of steel, welded together in an abstract geometric pattern and then painted with an acrylic paint to enhance the surface. While the work adheres to a rigid, rational geometry, this sculptures suggest lyrical movement, apparent weightlessness and improvisation as the title suggests. Chris Hill Spirit welded steel, acrylic paint 16.50h x 11.50w x 7d in 41.91h x 29.21w x 17.78d cm CHI021 Chris Hill is a Santa Fe based sculptor. Chris was born in Port Arthur, Texas but grew up in small town North Mississippi. He began welding at age 18 at the Tennessee Valley Authority...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Steel

"Sweetness" – Contemporary Pop Sculpture in Foam Clay and Enamel on Wood, 2022
"Sweetness" – Contemporary Pop Sculpture in Foam Clay and Enamel on Wood, 2022

"Sweetness" – Contemporary Pop Sculpture in Foam Clay and Enamel on Wood, 2022

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

SWEETNESS is a contemporary pop sculpture by Vera Vizzi combining foam clay, enamel, acrylic markers and fir wood into a compact, whimsical composition. Measuring 18 × 18 × 13 cm, th...

Category

2010s Pop Art Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Modular domino wall sculpture in foam clay with twin-yolk fried-egg motif
Modular domino wall sculpture in foam clay with twin-yolk fried-egg motif

Modular domino wall sculpture in foam clay with twin-yolk fried-egg motif

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

This modular domino wall sculpture is executed in foam clay and acrylic on a black painted wood panel. The composition pairs a deep matte ground with a sculpted white shell and two g...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

The Path - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted Welded Steel Wall Sculpture
The Path - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted Welded Steel Wall Sculpture

The Path - Abstract Geometric Form, Hand Painted Welded Steel Wall Sculpture

By Chris Hill

Located in Chicago, IL

This dynamic wall sculpture is created from sheets of steel, welded together in an abstract geometric pattern. Muted shades of blue, grey, purple and green dominate and are balanced by softer hues. While the work adheres to a rigid, rational geometry, this sculptures suggest lyrical movement, apparent weightlessness and improvisation as the title suggests. Chris Hill The Path welded steel, acrylic paint 28h x 15.75w x 2d in 71.12h x 40.01w x 5.08d cm CHI018 Chris Hill is a Santa Fe based sculptor. Chris was born in Port Arthur...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Geometric Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Steel

Turquoise Mixed Media Wall Relief with Glossy Drip Form on Black Panel
Turquoise Mixed Media Wall Relief with Glossy Drip Form on Black Panel

Turquoise Mixed Media Wall Relief with Glossy Drip Form on Black Panel

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

Turquoise mixed media wall relief with glossy sculptural drip form and pastel elements mounted on a black panel. This vertical mixed media wall sculpture belongs to the Domino Serie...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Modular Domino Wall Sculpture in Pale Aqua Foam Clay with Stripe Motif
Modular Domino Wall Sculpture in Pale Aqua Foam Clay with Stripe Motif

Modular Domino Wall Sculpture in Pale Aqua Foam Clay with Stripe Motif

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

Modular domino wall sculpture in pale aqua foam clay with painted vertical stripes and subtle relief detailing, a compact mixed media work conceived for panel installations. This mix...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Celestial Moon Wall Relief from the Domino Series on Black Panel
Celestial Moon Wall Relief from the Domino Series on Black Panel

Celestial Moon Wall Relief from the Domino Series on Black Panel

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

Celestial moon wall relief from the Domino Series combining sculptural texture, cratered surface, and monochrome contrast on a black panel. This vertical mixed media wall sculpture ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Domino Seven. Modular Wall Relief Sculpture in White Foam Clay on Wood Panel
Domino Seven. Modular Wall Relief Sculpture in White Foam Clay on Wood Panel

Domino Seven. Modular Wall Relief Sculpture in White Foam Clay on Wood Panel

By Vera Vizzi

Located in FISTERRA, ES

White foam-clay domino wall relief in mixed media on black wood panel, a tactile modular sculpture exploring form, void and repetition. This mixed-media wall sculpture employs foam ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Nancy Graves Sculptures

Materials

Enamel

Nancy Graves sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Nancy Graves sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Nancy Graves in bronze, metal, paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 1980s and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Nancy Graves sculptures, so small editions measuring 7 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Gino Miles, Varujan Boghosian, and Liz Sweibel. Nancy Graves sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $18,000 and tops out at $120,000, while the average work can sell for $69,000.