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Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

American, 1932-2007
Born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1932, R.B. (Ronald Brooks) Kitaj is considered a key figure in European and American contemporary painting. While his work has been considered controversial, he is regarded as a master draftsman with a commitment to figurative art. His highly personal paintings and drawings reflect his deep interest in history; cultural, social and political ideologies; and issues of identity. Among his various honors are election to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1982, and election to the Royal Academy in 1985 (the first American since John Singer Sargent to receive this honor.) Numerous retrospective exhibitions of his work include shows at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.; The Jewish Museum, Berlin; The Jewish Museum, London; and the Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany. Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and Troy, New York, Kitaj joined the Merchant Marines in 1949.
In 1950, between sailings, he attended classes at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York. He went on to study drawing at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna, Austria. Kitaj moved to Oxford, England in 1957, and enrolled at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford. In 1959, Kitaj was accepted into Royal College of Art, London, where he befriended classmate David Hockney. Upon graduation from the RCA, Kitaj signed with Marlborough Fine Art, London, where he had his first solo exhibition in 1963. His art career began in earnest, and he found critical acclaim alongside commercial success. A second solo show followed at Marlborough Gallery, New York, in 1965, and he sold “The Ohio Gang” to The Museum of Modern Art. In 1969, Kitaj taught for a year at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1976, he coined the term “School of London” in an essay he wrote as curator of the polemical exhibition, “The Human Clay,” at the Hayward Gallery, London. The term, though loose, continues to define a group of stylistically diverse artists, including Kitaj, who were working in London at that time focusing on figural representation. In 1981, he spent a year in Paris, France, where he focused on drawing and use of pastel. In 1994, the Tate Gallery, London, organized a major retrospective of Kitaj’s work. Hostile and personal attacks from some critics led to what Kitaj referred to as the “Tate War.” The exhibition subsequently traveled to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Kitaj moved to Los Angeles, California, and continued to exhibit with Marlborough Fine Art and the Marlborough Gallery, New York. In 2001 the National Gallery London organized a solo exhibition of paintings: “R.B. Kitaj In the Aura of Cezanne and Other Masters.” Kitaj focused on his “late style” in his Yellow Studio in Westwood and died in 2007. His gift of his archive to the UCLA Library Special Collections was celebrated with exhibitions at the Skirball Cultural Center and UCLA’s Young Research Library.
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Vintage SIGNED Kitaj Poster, La Fabbrica, Milan (A Life 1975) woman in red dress
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Printed in 1975, this poster features the encounter between an alluring woman dressed in red, and a man with his back to the viewer. The light of a streetlamp is beautifully imitated...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

Some do not (A) R.B. Kitaj erotic nude drawing of nude blonde with man on bed
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
An erotic dalliance between a nude blonde woman lying down, and nude man, on a bed with white sheets. Subtle shades of peach, tan, yellow, and grey and black shadow behind the couple...
Category

1970s Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

Nude Sculpture R.B. Kitaj drawing of nude woman on handmade orange paper print
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Here Kitaj depicts a sculpture of a nude woman, shaded delicately in black, printed on wonderfully textured handmade muted orange paper. The woman’s hand reaches to the inside of her...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

A Rash Act: erotic drawing of nude blonde, redhead, and man with art deco motifs
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
A colorful erotic daydream drawing of a nude blonde fantasizing, with a redhead woman, and man. Green and purple patterns on hair and pillows, and art deco motifs, adorn this sensual...
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1970s Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

R.B. Kitaj, Civic Virtue All Over The Floor, 53/100, Screenprint, 1967
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT R.B. Kitaj, Civic Virtue All Over The Floor Screenprint, Serigraphy. Edition of 100. 53/100. Signed in pencil lower left. Unframed. CREATOR R.B. Kitaj, United Kingdom. ...
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Mid-20th Century British Folk Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

Swimmer - Screenprint (Olympic Games Munich 1972)
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Paris, IDF
Ronard Brooks KITAJ Swimmer Screen print Signature printed in the plate On heavy paper 101 x 64 cm (c. 40 x 26 inch) Made for the Olympic Games in Munich, 1972 Excellent condition
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1970s American Modern Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

R.B. Kitaj Orgasm: drawing of woman in ecstasy with pale pink and clay red
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Printed in a rich terra cotta red on pale pink paper, Orgasm depicts a woman’s head in profile with a dark background. Kitaj was fascinated with the female form, often producing edgy...
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Late 20th Century Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

R.B. Kitaj, The Adding Machine, 63/70 Screenprint 1972
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT R.B. Kitaj, The Adding Machine, Edition of 70, Signed and numbered 63/70 in pencil lower right. Unframed. Printed by Kelpra Studios, London, with their ink stamp on the back. ...
Category

Mid-20th Century British Folk Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

R.B. Kitaj, Turk Sib: The Most Important Film Ever Made, Signed 1972
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT R.B. Kitaj, Turk Sib: The Most Important Film Ever Made, Screenprint Edition of 70 Signed and numbered 63/70 in pencil lower right. Unframed. CREATOR R.B. Kitaj, United ...
Category

Mid-20th Century British Folk Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

R.B. Kitaj, The cultural value of fear, distrust and hypochondria, 1964-1966
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT R.B. Kitaj, The cultural value of fear, distrust and hypochondria. Screenprint Edition of 70 Signed in pencil lower right. Unframed. Color lithograph on different types of pa...
Category

Mid-20th Century British Folk Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

Original Vintage Sport Poster Munich Summer Olympics 1972 Swimming RB Kitaj
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in London, GB
Original vintage sports poster for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich - Olympische Spiele Munchen - designed by the painter and printmaker Kitaj (Ronald Brooks Kitaj; 1932-2007) depi...
Category

1970s German Vintage Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

Portrait of Chris Prater
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Llanbrynmair, GB
’Chris Prater’ By Ronald Brooks Kitaj Medium - Screen Print Signed - Yes Edition - 150 Size - 630mm x 920mm Date - 1980 Condition - 10 Colour of print may not be accurate when viewe...
Category

1980s Other Art Style Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

POGANY rare 17 color 1960s British Pop silkscreen signed numbered edition of 70
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
R.B. Kitaj POGANY, 1966 17 colour Screenprint and Photo-screenprint 24 × 36 inches Pencil signed and numbered from the Limited Edition of 70 Hand-signed by artist, Signed & numbered ...
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1960s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen, Pencil

R.B. Kitaj, Portrait, 13/70 Color Silkscreen 1970-1974
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT R.B. Kitaj, Portrait, Edition of 70, Color silkscreen. Signed and numbered 13/70 in pencil upper right. Unframed. CREATOR R.B. Kitaj, United Kingdom and USA. DATE O...
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Mid-20th Century British Folk Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

A Life (B) R.B. Kitaj Film noir night city scene of woman in red dress
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Signed by the artist and numbered 49/50 lower left in pencil. Color lithograph on mauve Wookey Hole handmade waterleaf paper. This print features the encounter between an alluring ...
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Late 20th Century Expressionist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

R.B. Kitaj, Cutie, 17/70, Screenprint 1974
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT R.B. Kitaj, Cutie 1974 Edition of 70 Signed and numbered 17/70 in pencil lower left. Unframed. CREATOR R.B. Kitaj, United Kingdom. DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.1974 MA...
Category

Mid-20th Century British Folk Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

R.B. Kitaj "The Jerwish Question"
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
Initialled signed in pencil From R. B. Kitaj, In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, screenprint 1969 edition of 150 photo screenprint. A cover of the infamous Henry Ford book from the Dearborn Independent "The Jewish Question". Printed by Kelpra Studio, London, published by Marlborough AG, Schellenberg, Florida. The Jewish Museum. a cover related to Russian Soviet cinema and film. Stylistically, these are hybrid works, influenced by Pop art and the modernist tradition of the Readymade, a work of art created when a mundane found object is named as an artwork and set in an art context. This avant-garde concept was originally invented by the Dada master Marcel Duchamp early in the twentieth century. In the 1960s it received renewed attention at a time when artistic norms were again being questioned. Reacting to Andy Warhol’s Pop imagery, Kitaj poignantly called his repurposed book covers “his soup can, his Liz Taylor.” The blatant use of images taken directly from commercial sources situates In Our Time as a precursor of appropriation art. In turning book covers into works of art, Kitaj is offering fragments of a history of knowledge, in which the content of each volume is at once mysterious and absent. Coming from this passionate bibliophile, the series is nothing less than an intellectual self-portrait. R.B. Kitaj, in full Ronald Brooks Kitaj . Ron Kitaj...
Category

1960s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

BAGHDAD Six color screenprint, renowned British Pop pioneer R.B. Kitaj, Signed/N
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Ronald Brooks (R.B.) Kitaj BAGHDAD, 1972 Six Color Screenprint and Photoscreenprint 20 × 14 1/2 inches Pencil signed and numbered 1/125 Printed at Kelpra Studio, London Published by ...
Category

1970s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

Cap'n A.B Dick (A) gray fisherman portrait sou'wester hat R.B. Kitaj lithograph
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Kitaj’s drawing is of a fisherman in profile, wearing a sou’wester: a collapsible rain hat. The image is a wry portrait, ostensibly of Albert Blake Dick, ...
Category

1970s Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

Dominie in Catalonia, Kitaj drawing black white portrait of young girl with hat
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
This hand-drawn black and white portrait of Dominie, Kitaj’s adopted daughter, is one of the few etchings produced by the artist. The shape of Dominie’s wide sunhat and its patterned...
Category

Late 20th Century Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Etching

Original Vintage London Underground Poster Michelangelo Victoria Albert Museum
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in London, GB
Original vintage London Underground poster - Find Michelangelo at the V&A nearest station South Kensington - featuring a sketch pasti...
Category

1990s British Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

"Performing Arts Center" lithograph by R. B. Kitaj from "New York, New York"
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"Performing Arts Center" lithograph of dancers and musicians by R. B. (Ronald Brooks) Kitaj from the "New York, New York" portfolio published by the New York Graphic Society. Signed ...
Category

1980s Contemporary Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

In Our Time - China of Today, Print by Ronald Brooks Kitaj
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: R. B. Kitaj, American (1932 - 2007) Title: In Our Time - China of Today Year: 1970 Medium: Screenprint, signed 'RK' in pencil Edition: 150 Image Size: 18 x 23 inches Size: 22...
Category

1970s Conceptual Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

R.B. Kitaj Screenprint Collage Hand Signed British Pop Art Film Still Camel
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
The Most Important Film Ever Made, 1972 Color screen print and collage, from the edition of 70. 15 x 17 in 38.1 x 43.2 cm Published by the artist with Marlborough Graphics at the Kelpra studio in 1972. This work is also in the collections of TATE London and the Victoria & Albert Museum. the price reflects the fact that there is no backing page. Stylistically, these are hybrid works, influenced by Pop art and the modernist tradition of the Readymade, a work of art created when a mundane found object is named as an artwork and set in an art context. This avant-garde concept was originally invented by the Dada master Marcel Duchamp early in the twentieth century. In the 1960s it received renewed attention at a time when artistic norms were again being questioned. Reacting to Andy Warhol’s Pop imagery, Kitaj poignantly called his repurposed lithograph and silkscreen book covers “his soup can, his Liz Taylor.” The blatant use of images taken directly from commercial sources situates In Our Time as a precursor of appropriation art. In turning book covers into works of art, Kitaj is offering fragments of a history of knowledge, in which the content of each volume is at once mysterious and absent. Coming from this passionate bibliophile, the series is nothing less than an intellectual self-portrait. R.B. Kitaj, in full Ronald Brooks Kitaj . Ron Kitaj...
Category

1960s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

FIRST SERIES - SOME POETS.
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Portland, ME
Kitaj, R. B. FIRST SERIES - SOME POETS. Marlborough AG, Schellenburg, FL, 1970. Number 69 of the edition of 70 (there were about 15 additional proofs for the Artist, the Printer, and...
Category

1970s Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

Dr Claribel & Miss Etta (Cone Sisters) British Pop Artist Kitaj Pastel Drawing
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
Ronald Brooks Kitaj RA 1932 – 2007 was an American artist with Jewish roots who spent much of his life in England. He became a merchant seaman with a Norwegian freighter when he was 17. He studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna and the Cooper Union in New York City. After serving in the United States Army for two years, in France and Germany, he moved to England to study at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford (1958–59) under the G.I. Bill, where he developed a love of Cézanne, and then at the Royal College of Art in London (1959–61), alongside David Hockney, Derek Boshier, Peter Phillips, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield. Richard Wollheim, the philosopher and David Hockney remained lifelong friends. "Through an earlier pre-occupation with turn-of-the-century intellectual life in Vienna (where he had started his art studies in the early 1950s), as well as an admiration for the Warburg Institute approach to the history of art-in-its-intellectual-context (since after Vienna he had moved to Oxford to study with the art historian Edgar Wind, before going on to the Royal College of Art) Kitaj has come to identify most strongly with the central European Jewish writer Franz Kafka, and with his sense of estrangement and of hidden mysteries. Illustrations to Kafka's aphorisms, imaginary portraits of his fiancée Felice and Count West-West who owned The Castle, appear in the Little Pictures, as do rapidly sketched portraits of Karl Kraus, Paul Celan, Leon Trotsky and Ludwig Wittgenstein, representations of Judeo-Christian mysteries of the hidden face of God. Kitaj settled in England, and through the 1960s taught at the Ealing Art...
Category

1990s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel

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Previously Available Items
Original Munich Olympic Games 1972 Swimmer, Linen-backed, Mint
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Authentic original 1972 Munich (Germany) 1972 Olympic poster printed by R. B. Kitaj. Linen-backed and in excellent condition. One of the Art Series posters was created for the 1972 Olympic Games. This vintage poster is professionally linen-backed, in excellent condition, and ready to frame. Images shown are of the exact poster you will receive. This original Olympic poster has the added advantage of Museum linen-backing, which is more stable and acid-free. The images shown are of the exact poster you will receive. Olympische Spiele Munchen 1972. This is one of the few also produced in a larger 'bus stop' format. The 1972 Munich Olympic Games poster by R.B. Kitaj is a notable piece of Olympic history. Kitaj, an American artist known for his vibrant and expressive style, created this poster as part of a series commissioned to celebrate the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany. Vintage Olympic posters...
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the Spirit of the Ghetto Screenprint British Pop Art RB Kitaj Judaica Silkscreen
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
R.B. Kitaj (1932-2007) Spirit of the Ghetto Original seven color silkscreen on paper Signature: Hand signed by the artist in pencil lower right Edition: From the small, limited edition of 25, pencil numbered lower right 2/25 Sight Size: 23-1/2" x 17-1/2" Frame Size: 27" x 21.5" In Tate collection, London. Ronald Brooks Kitaj RA 1932 – 2007 was an American artist with Jewish roots who spent much of his life in England. He became a merchant seaman with a Norwegian freighter when he was 17. He studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna and the Cooper Union in New York City. After serving in the United States Army for two years, in France and Germany, he moved to England to study at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford (1958–59) under the G.I. Bill, where he developed a love of Cézanne, and then at the Royal College of Art in London (1959–61), alongside David Hockney, Derek Boshier, Peter Phillips, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield. Richard Wollheim, the philosopher and David Hockney remained lifelong friends. "Through an earlier pre-occupation with turn-of-the-century intellectual life in Vienna (where he had started his art studies in the early 1950s), as well as an admiration for the Warburg Institute approach to the history of art-in-its-intellectual-context (since after Vienna he had moved to Oxford to study with the art historian Edgar Wind, before going on to the Royal College of Art) Kitaj has come to identify most strongly with the central European Jewish writer Franz Kafka, and with his sense of estrangement and of hidden mysteries. Illustrations to Kafka's aphorisms, imaginary portraits of his fiancée Felice and Count West-West who owned The Castle, appear in the Little Pictures, as do rapidly sketched portraits of Karl Kraus, Paul Celan, Leon Trotsky and Ludwig Wittgenstein, representations of Judeo-Christian mysteries of the hidden face of God. Kitaj settled in England, and through the 1960s taught at the Ealing Art College, the Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art. He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley in 1968. He staged his first solo exhibition at Marlborough New London Gallery in London in 1963, entitled "Pictures with commentary, Pictures without commentary", in which text included in the pictures and the accompanying catalogue referred to a range of literature and history, citing Aby Warburg's analysis of symbolic forms as a major influence. He curated an exhibition for the Arts Council at the Hayward Gallery in 1976, entitled "The Human Clay" (an allusion to a line by W. H. Auden), including works by 48 London artists, such as William Roberts, Richard Carline, Colin Self and Maggi Hambling, championing the cause of figurative art at a time when abstract was dominant. In an essay in the controversial catalogue, he invented the phrase the School of London to describe painters such as Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Euan Uglow, Michael...
Category

1970s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

American portrait of film director John Ford by Ronald Brooks Kitaj
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Petworth, West Sussex
• Ronald Brooks Kitaj (American, 1932 – 2007) Portrait of the film director John Ford Crayon on paper 13.7/8 x 10.7/8 in. (38 x 28 cm.) Provenance: Cyril C. Pain, Church Street, Lond...
Category

20th Century Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper, Crayon

R. B. Kitaj Untitled from Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Dronten, NL
Etching and aquatint: sheet diameter, circa 45.5 cm Edition of 175, signed and numbered Published in January 1984 by The Arion Press, San Francisco From the portfolio; "Self-portr...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Paper

Some do not (A) R.B. Kitaj erotic nude drawing of nude blonde with man on bed
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
An erotic dalliance between a nude blonde woman lying down, and nude man, on a bed with white sheets. Subtle shades of peach, tan, yellow, and grey and black shadow behind the couple. Kitaj's elegant drawing tempers this shocking scene. Edgy addition to a contemporary, minimalist, or modern bedroom or living space. Paper 29 x 20.5 in. / 74.2 x 52.7 cm Lithograph on RK Burt white mould-made paper. Edition of 50: this impression 10/50. Signed by the artist and numbered 10/50 lower right in pencil. While the title states that "Some do not", some do -- and here, two lovers heighten their intimacy with a taboo sexual act...
Category

1970s Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

A Rash Act: erotic drawing of nude blonde, redhead, and man with art deco motifs
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
A colorful erotic daydream drawing of a nude blonde fantasizing, with a redhead woman, and man. Green and purple patterns on hair and pillows, and art deco motifs, adorn this sensual...
Category

1970s Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

La Fabbrica, Milan (A Life 1975) signed vintage poster, woman in red dress
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Paper 36.5 x 23.5 in. / 92.7 x 59.7 cm. Original exhibition poster for R.B. Kitaj at La Fabbrica, Milan. Signed by the artist lower center in pencil. This poster is reproduced fro...
Category

Late 20th Century Modern Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

R.B. Kitaj Orgasm: drawing of woman in ecstasy with pale pink and clay red
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in New York, NY
Printed in a rich terra cotta red on pale pink paper, Orgasm depicts a woman’s head in profile with a dark background. Kitaj was fascinated with the female form, often producing edgy...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Lithograph

Vintage Poster British Pop Art 1972 Munich Olympic Swimmer R.B. KItaj
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
Swimming Poster: Published and printed in Germany by Olympia Edition. signed in the plate this is not mounted to linen or backed. has never been framed. It depicts an African (African American?) Olympic Swimmer...
Category

1970s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Offset

Dr Claribel & Miss Etta (Cone Sisters) British Pop Artist Kitaj Pastel Drawing
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
Ronald Brooks Kitaj RA 1932 – 2007 was an American artist with Jewish roots who spent much of his life in England. He became a merchant seaman with a Norwegian freighter when he was 17. He studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste in Vienna and the Cooper Union in New York City. After serving in the United States Army for two years, in France and Germany, he moved to England to study at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford (1958–59) under the G.I. Bill, where he developed a love of Cézanne, and then at the Royal College of Art in London (1959–61), alongside David Hockney, Derek Boshier, Peter Phillips, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield. Richard Wollheim, the philosopher and David Hockney remained lifelong friends. "Through an earlier pre-occupation with turn-of-the-century intellectual life in Vienna (where he had started his art studies in the early 1950s), as well as an admiration for the Warburg Institute approach to the history of art-in-its-intellectual-context (since after Vienna he had moved to Oxford to study with the art historian Edgar Wind, before going on to the Royal College of Art) Kitaj has come to identify most strongly with the central European Jewish writer Franz Kafka, and with his sense of estrangement and of hidden mysteries. Illustrations to Kafka's aphorisms, imaginary portraits of his fiancée Felice and Count West-West who owned The Castle, appear in the Little Pictures, as do rapidly sketched portraits of Karl Kraus, Paul Celan, Leon Trotsky and Ludwig Wittgenstein, representations of Judeo-Christian mysteries of the hidden face of God. Kitaj settled in England, and through the 1960s taught at the Ealing Art College, the Camberwell School of Art and the Slade School of Art. He also taught at the University of California, Berkeley in 1968. He staged his first solo exhibition at Marlborough New London Gallery in London in 1963, entitled "Pictures with commentary, Pictures without commentary", in which text included in the pictures and the accompanying catalogue referred to a range of literature and history, citing Aby Warburg's analysis of symbolic forms as a major influence. He curated an exhibition for the Arts Council at the Hayward Gallery in 1976, entitled "The Human Clay" (an allusion to a line by W. H. Auden), including works by 48 London artists, such as William Roberts, Richard Carline, Colin Self and Maggi Hambling, championing the cause of figurative art at a time when abstract was dominant. In an essay in the controversial catalogue, he invented the phrase the School of London to describe painters such as Frank Auerbach, Leon Kossoff, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Euan Uglow, Michael...
Category

1990s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Charcoal, Pastel

Performing Arts Center from the New York, NY Portfolio, by Ronald Brooks Kitaj
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: R.B. Kitaj, American (1932 - 2007) Title: Performing Arts Center from New York, New York Portfolio Year: 1983 Medium: Serigraph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 51/250...
Category

1980s Contemporary Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Materials

Screen

R.B. Kitaj "The Jerwish Question"
By Ronald Brooks Kitaj
Located in Surfside, FL
Initialled signed in pencil From R. B. Kitaj, In Our Time: Covers for a Small Library After the Life for the Most Part, screenprint 1969 edition of 150 photo screenprint. A cover of the infamous Henry Ford book from the Dearborn Independent "The Jewish Question". Printed by Kelpra Studio, London, published by Marlborough AG, Schellenberg, Florida. The Jewish Museum. a cover related to Russian Soviet cinema and film. Stylistically, these are hybrid works, influenced by Pop art and the modernist tradition of the Readymade, a work of art created when a mundane found object is named as an artwork and set in an art context. This avant-garde concept was originally invented by the Dada master Marcel Duchamp early in the twentieth century. In the 1960s it received renewed attention at a time when artistic norms were again being questioned. Reacting to Andy Warhol’s Pop imagery, Kitaj poignantly called his repurposed book covers “his soup can, his Liz Taylor.” The blatant use of images taken directly from commercial sources situates In Our Time as a precursor of appropriation art. In turning book covers into works of art, Kitaj is offering fragments of a history of knowledge, in which the content of each volume is at once mysterious and absent. Coming from this passionate bibliophile, the series is nothing less than an intellectual self-portrait. R.B. Kitaj, in full Ronald Brooks Kitaj . Ron Kitaj...
Category

1960s Pop Art Ronald Brooks Kitaj Art

Ronald Brooks Kitaj art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Ronald Brooks Kitaj art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, orange, purple and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Ronald Brooks Kitaj in screen print, lithograph, charcoal and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Pop Art style. Not every interior allows for large Ronald Brooks Kitaj art, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John Grillo, Zane Fix, and Seymour Chwast. Ronald Brooks Kitaj art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $224 and tops out at $4,200, while the average work can sell for $1,450.

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