Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
After receiving his bachelor of fine arts in painting and art history from the Emily Carr School of Art in 1974, Richard Hambleton launched his “Mass Murder” series. The series was painted on the streets of over 15 cities across Canada and the United States. Hambleton would outline friends in chalk drawings, splashing them with red paint to mimic the remnants of a crime scene.
In 1979, Hambleton moved permanently to the Lower East Side of New York City. It was here that Hambleton gained notoriety for his “Shadowman” paintings of the early 1980s. Over the course of the next decade, his ominous silhouettes painted in unsuspecting corners, alleys and side streets had appeared in over six hundred locations in major cities, including New York City, London, Paris, as well as both sides of the Berlin Wall.
A departure from the spontaneity of the traditional street tag, Hambleton’s paintings were site-specific conceptual works intended to provoke unsuspecting pedestrians with a sobering moment of contemplation. His first solo exhibition opened in the Lower East Side of New York in 1982, and just two years later, his work was included in the Venice Biennale. He was included in the Venice Biennale again in 1988. From 2009–11, a major retrospective was mounted in collaboration with Giorgio Armani, touring multiple venues that included the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and Phillips de Pury in New York.
Shadowman, a film about Hambleton by director Oren Jacoby, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21 2017. Today, Hambleton’s works are held in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Moco Museum in Amsterdam, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others. Hambleton continued to live and work in New York until his death in 2017.
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(Biography provided by Chase Contemporary)
1980s American Vintage Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Acrylic
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Gouache
20th Century Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Canvas
Late 20th Century Industrial Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Canvas, Wood
1940s American Art Deco Vintage Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Paint
1950s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Paint
1920s American Art Deco Vintage Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Paint
2010s French Modern Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Acrylic
Early 1900s Hungarian Other Antique Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Canvas
1990s Italian Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Canvas, Glass, Beech
20th Century Haitian Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Canvas, Acrylic, Wood
1970s American Vintage Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Acrylic, Masonite
21st Century and Contemporary American Richard Hambleton Wall Decorations
Acrylic
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- 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 16, 2024How much Richard Hambleton paintings are worth varies based on age, size, condition and other factors. His work As the World Burns sold for over $550,000 at auction in 2018, the year following his death. Hambleton gained notoriety for his “Shadowman” paintings of the early 1980s. Over the next decade, his ominous silhouettes painted in corners, alleys and side streets appeared in over 600 locations in major cities, including New York City, London, Paris and both sides of the Berlin Wall. A departure from the spontaneity of the traditional street tag, Hambleton’s paintings were site-specific conceptual works intended to provoke unsuspecting pedestrians with a sobering moment of contemplation. If you own a Hambleton painting, a certified appraiser or knowledgeable art dealer can help you with the valuation process. On 1stDibs, explore a variety of Richard Hambleton art.