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Norman Bluhm Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

American, 1921-1999
Norman Bluhm (1921-1999) was an American Abstract Expressionist celebrated for creating paintings with bold, energetic brushwork and colorful, voluptuous forms. Born in Chicago, IL, Bluhm studied architecture with Mies van der Rohe. In 1948, after serving as a fighter pilot in World War II, Bluhm moved to Paris, where he studied at the Ecoled des Beaux-Arts and associated with Joan Mitchell, Sam Francis and Alberto Giacometti. After moving to New York in 1956, he joined a circle of action painters including Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, Willem de Kooning and showed at the Leo Castelli Gallery. Prior to and after his studies, Bluhm was a member of the Air Force and served in World War II. After World War II, he lived in Paris with other hopeful American writers and artists of the expatriate scene. There he developed an interest in nude painting. In 1956 he moved to New York. The Cedar Tavern was a favorite gathering place where he convened with other painters and writers, such as Frank O'Hara, Franz Kline, William de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock. Among the work of this noted group were the twenty-six Bluhm-O'Hara spontaneous poem paintings, composed in Bluhm's studio atop the old Tiffany Glass Building in 1960. The Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. exhibited Bluhm's work in his first museum show in 1969. During the 1960s and 1970s, his art created an atmosphere of violence, with a large paint-soaked brush, often using blues, pinks, purples and greens. His work which featured webs of jagged marks, cascading drips and violent splatters of paint, increasingly took on the energy and scale of abstract expressionism. Later his violent outlook changed, as did his style. He has exhibited his works throughout the United States and Europe.
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Artist: Norman Bluhm
"Othello" Gestural Abstract Painting
By Norman Bluhm
Located in Houston, TX
Energetic abstract expressionist watercolor painting of large black and orange splatters done by Norman Bluhm in 1962. Signed and dated in lower left corner. Hung in a black and gold...
Category

1960s Abstract Expressionist Norman Bluhm Drawings and Watercolor Paintings

Materials

Watercolor

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Norman Bluhm drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Norman Bluhm drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Norman Bluhm in crayon, ink, oil crayon and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Norman Bluhm drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 19 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Mark di Suvero, Melissa Meyer, and Margaret Neill. Norman Bluhm drawings and watercolor paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,500 and tops out at $18,000, while the average work can sell for $12,750.

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