The drawings by artist Robert Longo are a sensory experience: They are monumental, detailed and hard-hitting in their subject matter, which often includes critiques of power, social unrest and consumer capitalism.
Longo has spent his career exploring mediums as varied as the Photorealistic charcoal drawings for which he is best known and film direction. In all of his work, however, he draws inspiration from his deep background in sculpture. “I always think that drawing is a sculptural process. I always feel like I’m carving the image out rather than painting the image. I’m carving it out with erasers and tools like that,” he once said.
The Long Island, New York, native attended high school with a man who was shot at Kent State University while protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War in 1970, and the famous image of this man lying dead on the ground influenced Longo so deeply that he began to consider all art political. Longo attended Buffalo State College, where he met and became friends with artist Cindy Sherman, and later the two moved to New York City together.
Longo’s revered work includes his charcoal and graphite “Men in the Cities” drawings. The Photorealist series, which debuted at Metro Pictures gallery in Manhattan in 1981, depicted people in formal business clothing. Posing in suspended animation in unusual contortions, the figures take on a choreographic quality and represent the career-minded “yuppies” of the era.
“Men in the Cities” was inspired by punk rock music and decades later has been cited as a visual reference for the opening sequence of the popular television drama Mad Men. The work was among the most recognizable and iconic of the Pictures Generation — the movement by artists who came of age in the 1970s and were disillusioned by the social and political conditions of the time. In 2014, Longo created 12 charcoal drawings for a series titled “Gang of Cosmos,” which were black-and-white depictions of famous Abstract Expressionist works by artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner.
Through his provocative, detailed and highly precise prints, drawings, photography and sculpture, Longo continues to challenge traditional sources of power and authority.
Find original Robert Longo art on 1stDibs.
Robert Longo, Janet (from Men in the Cities) - Signed Photograph
By Robert Longo
Located in Hamburg, DE
Robert Longo (American, born 1953) Janet (from Men in the Cities), 1981/2016 Medium: Archival pigment print in colours, on Canson Platine fiber paper Dimensions: 47.7 x 35.5 cm Editi...
Archival Pigment
Robert Longo, Eric, NYC: Signed C-Print and Artist's Book
By Robert Longo
Located in Hamburg, DE
Robert Longo (b.1953) Eric, NYC, 1980, 2009 Medium: C-print on photo paper (incl. artist’s book) Dimensions: 25.5 x 18.5 cm (10 × 7 1/4 in) Edition of 100: Hand-signed in black pen
C Print
Leland III
By Jan Rattia
Located in New York, NY
Chromogenic print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso 22.5 x 30 inches (Edition of 5 + 2 APs) 45 x 60 inches (Edition of 3 + 2 APs) This artwork is offered by ClampArt, loc...
C Print
$3,500
H 48 in W 32 in
Peter Andrew Lusztyk - Lego People, Photography 2021, Printed After
By Peter Andrew Lusztyk
Located in Stamford, CT
Lego People Digital C-Print / Archival Pigment Print Edition of 20 48" x 32" 56" x 40" (Framed Size) “Collectible” series is a macro level exploration of coins, bills and stamps. Th...
Archival Pigment
$3,000
H 16 in W 20 in
Gale Sayers #40, 1966 - Color Photograph by Art Shay for Sports Illustrated
By Art Shay
Located in Chicago, IL
Art Shay Gale Sayers #40, 1966 archival pigment print 20.25 x 24.25 framed 3/3 ASY028 “Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20th century.” Ellen & Richard Sandor, Renowned photo collectors “I’ve admired Art Shay’s work for almost forty years, and he keeps getting better. He can do anything with a camera, but what he mostly does is capture real moments and transform them into visual poetry. His work continues to be an inspiration to me.” William Friedkin, Director of French Connection “Art Shay is one of our finest photographers. His work over the past fifty years has artfully captured the beauty, humor, and pathos of America.” Studs Terkel “Art Shay is one of the best photojournalists I know. I’ve been a fan of his work since the early 1950s - before the launch of playboy magazine.” Hugh Hefner “Algren, Terkel, Royko, they gave us a voice. Art Shay gave us a face.” Tony Fitzpatrick, Chicago Artist “Art Shay is America’s Cartier-Bresson.” Thomas Dyja, author of The Third Coast “Chicago’s Art Shay in many ways is to American photography what Nelson Algren was to American writing: that rare and absolutely necessary citizen who’s blessed with a cold eye, a clear head, and a warm heart. What is it about Chicago that keeps giving us men like this?” Russell Banks, Novelist “The best images of Simone de Beauvoir and her times have been passed down to us by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gisele Freund, Robert Doisneau, Georges Brassai, and in America, the Chicago-based Art Shay, all world-class photographers.” Christophe Loviny, Art Editor, Paris “Art Shay is the best photo-journalist Chicago ever produced.” Arthur Siegel...
Archival Pigment
Untitled (Renaissance #1005)
By Bill Armstrong
Located in New York, NY
Type-C print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso 36 x 30 inches (Edition of 5) 48 x 40 inches (Edition of 5) This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. ...
C Print
$3,750
H 40 in W 60 in
Peter Andrew Lusztyk - Albany I, Photography 2020, Printed After
By Peter Andrew Lusztyk
Located in Stamford, CT
Albany I Digital C-Print / Archival Pigment Print Available sizes: 40 x 60 in 60 x 90 in Since its inception, Lusztyk’s Interchanges project has taken the artist all over the world ...
Archival Pigment
Martin Luther King Speaking at Soldier Field, Chicago 1966
By Art Shay
Located in Chicago, IL
“Art Shay’s photography shakes you up, sets you down gently, pats you on the head and then kicks you in the ass.” Roger Ebert “[Shay’s work] ranks with some of the greats of the 20th century.” Ellen & Richard Sandor, Renowned photo collectors “I’ve admired Art Shay’s work for almost forty years, and he keeps getting better. He can do anything with a camera, but what he mostly does is capture real moments and transform them into visual poetry. His work continues to be an inspiration to me.” William Friedkin, Director of French Connection “Art Shay is one of our finest photographers. His work over the past fifty years has artfully captured the beauty, humor, and pathos of America.” Studs Terkel “Art Shay is one of the best photojournalists I know. I’ve been a fan of his work since the early 1950s - before the launch of playboy magazine.” Hugh Hefner “Algren, Terkel, Royko, they gave us a voice. Art Shay gave us a face.” Tony Fitzpatrick, Chicago Artist “Art Shay is America’s Cartier-Bresson.” Thomas Dyja, author of The Third Coast “Chicago’s Art Shay in many ways is to American photography what Nelson Algren was to American writing: that rare and absolutely necessary citizen who’s blessed with a cold eye, a clear head, and a warm heart. What is it about Chicago that keeps giving us men like this?” Russell Banks, Novelist “The best images of Simone de Beauvoir and her times have been passed down to us by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gisele Freund, Robert Doisneau, Georges Brassai, and in America, the Chicago-based Art Shay, all world-class photographers.” Christophe Loviny, Art Editor, Paris “Art Shay is the best photo-journalist Chicago ever produced.” Arthur Siegel...
Archival Pigment
Untitled (Film Noir #1419)
By Bill Armstrong
Located in New York, NY
Type-C print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso 24 x 20 inches (Edition of 10) 36 x 30 inches (Edition of 5) 48 x 40 inches (Edition of 5) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Film Noir...
C Print
Amsterdam VI
By Mona Kuhn
Located in New York, NY
Chromogenic print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered (4/8) in pencil, verso This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Price includes framing. About the arti...
C Print
ABBA Agneta II signed and numbered Pop Art print
By Blank Barbie
Located in London, GB
Agneta II by Blank Barbie pop art work of the iconic Agneta Fältskog of Swedish music super band ABBA. Japan 1978 paper size 30x30 inches / 76 x 76 cm unframed - framing availabl...
Color, Archival Pigment
Agneta IV signed and numbered
By Blank Barbie
Located in London, GB
Agneta IV by Blank Barbie pop art work of the iconic Agneta Fältskog of Swedish music super band ABBA. Japan 1978 paper size 30x30 inches / 76 x 76 cm unframed - framing availabl...
Color, Archival Pigment
Figure #70
By Bill Armstrong
Located in New York, NY
Type-C print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso 20 x 24 inches (Edition of 10) 30 x 36 inches (Edition of 5) 40 x 48 inches (Edition of 5) This artwork is offered by Clam...
C Print
$2,900
H 37 in W 30 in D 0.07 in
Snowy Egret in the Bayou - White Bird, Landscape, Animal, Swamp, Wetland
By Cheryl Medow
Located in Denton, TX
Snowy Egret in the Bayou by Cheryl Medow is a color portrait of a white bird perched on a branch, in front of a swampy landscape. Edition of 6 Signed and numbered in pencil, and bli...
Archival Pigment
STUDY OF FERGUSON RIOT COPS
By Robert Longo
Located in Aventura, FL
Hand signed, titled and dated by the artist. Original ink and charcoal on vellum paper. Framed size approx 30.75 x 34 inches. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of Auth...
Paper, Ink