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Ross Bleckner

American, b. 1949

Influential contemporary artist Ross Bleckner is renowned for his large-scale abstract and figurative paintings that convey themes of change, loss and memory. Using recurring symbolism such as flowers, birds, urns and candelabras, along with patterns like stripes and dots, Bleckner’s immersive works elicit a hypnotic effect while suggesting ideas related to the body, health and disease. 

Born in 1949 in New York City, Bleckner later studied at New York University alongside artists such as Chuck Close and Sol LeWitt. He went on to study at the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a Master of Fine Arts in 1973.

In 1979, he began exhibiting with Mary Boone Gallery. During the 1980s, Bleckner became one of New York’s most prominent emerging artists through paintings that tackled the emotional toll of the AIDS crisis, particularly on the gay community. Bleckner’s powerful works depicting multicolored volumetric circles, or “cells as seen under a microscope,” garnered acclaim from art critics and collectors. In 1995, he became the youngest artist to have a retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In recent years, Bleckner’s paintings, watercolors and abstract, landscape and still-life prints have continued to capture international attention. His works have been exhibited at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Kunstmuseum Luzern in Lucerne, the Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern and the Gropius Bau in Berlin.

Bleckner’s art is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of Ross Bleckner’s prints, paintings and drawings and watercolor paintings.

Ross Bleckner, Floating Red
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Ross Bleckner FLOATING RED Year: 2019 Medium: Archival pigment print on Innova Etching Cotton Rag 315 gsm fine art paper Size: 42 x 70 inches (107 x 178 cm) Edition: 30 Price: $7,000 Also sold as a set with Floating Red Glowing and contemplative, Ross Bleckner’s work blends abstraction with recognizable symbols to create meditations on perception, transcendence and loss. Ross Bleckner was born in 1949 in New York and grew up in the prosperous town of Hewlett Harbor on Long Island. The first art exhibition he saw—The Responsive Eye, a show of Op art on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965—had a strong impact on him. He decided to become an artist when he was in college, studying with Sol LeWitt and Chuck Close at New York University, where he earned a BA in 1971. Two years later, he completed an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, where he met David Salle. After moving back to New York, Bleckner purchased and moved into a Tribeca loft building in 1974. Painter Julian Schnabel rented three floors of the building, and the Mudd Club, a nightclub frequented by musicians and artists, occupied space there from 1977 to 1983. Bleckner sold the building in 2004. His first solo exhibition was held in 1975 at Cunningham Ward Gallery in New York. In 1979 he began his long association with Mary Boone Gallery in New York, which championed several of the so-called art stars of the 1980s. In 1981 Bleckner met Thomas Ammann, an important Swiss art dealer who went on to collect his work. Bleckner’s early 1980s Stripe...
Category

2010s Contemporary Ross Bleckner

Materials

Archival Pigment

Ross Bleckner, Dome (Blue)
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Dome, Blue, 2017 Archival pigment inks on Crane Museo Max 365 gsm fine art paper 37 x 34 inches (94 x 86 cm) Edition of 40 Suite of 3 also available for $7500 Ross Bleckner is an i...
Category

1990s Contemporary Ross Bleckner

Materials

Archival Ink

Ross Bleckner Abstract Oil Painting
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Ross Bleckner (American, b. 1949) Untitled, c. 20th century Oil on board 18 x 20 in. Ross Bleckner grew up in Hewlett, Long Island, New York; drawing all the time without being aware that other artists existed. He was the middle child between two sisters; his father manufactures electronic parts He attended New York University where Sol Lewitt, Chuck Close and others were his teachers. He graduated in 1972, then spent a year at the California Institute of Arts. His contacts in the next few years were very fortuitous; Sol Lewitt and Chuck Close, Carl Andre, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, etc. Bleckner is on the nervous side, beset by self-doubt, insomnia, and gloom. He is unpretentious, although he is bluntly handsome, with olive complexion, and a compact build. He is "10 percent that is superficial and 90 percent that has to do with the depths and that is threatened by living. He is a very complicated individual. He is a very, very morose, deeply feeling, hardworking artist- he takes a lot from within himself - but always, no matter how successful he is, he feels he is going to fall into those depths." 1 Bleckner first exhibited his work in New York in 1974. The following year he was given his first one-man show; he was included in the 1975 Whitney Biennial.. Since about 1985 has addressed many of his paintings to the subject of AIDS- both documenting it as a historical phenomenon and commemorating specific individuals who have died. Written and submitted by Jean Ershler Schatz, artist and researcher from Laguna Woods, California. Bio sourced from the Archives of askArt. Sources include: Ross Bleckner's Mood Indigo...
Category

20th Century Abstract Ross Bleckner

Materials

Oil, Board

Ross Bleckner, Water Lilies (C.M.)
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Ross Bleckner THE WATER LILIES (C.M.) Year: 2019 Medium: Archival pigment print on Innova Etching Cotton Rag 315 gsm fine art paper Size: 42 x 70 inches (107 x 178 cm) Edition: 30 Price: $7,000 Also sold as a set with Floating Red Glowing and contemplative, Ross Bleckner’s work blends abstraction with recognizable symbols to create meditations on perception, transcendence and loss. Ross Bleckner was born in 1949 in New York and grew up in the prosperous town of Hewlett Harbor on Long Island. The first art exhibition he saw—The Responsive Eye, a show of Op art on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965—had a strong impact on him. He decided to become an artist when he was in college, studying with Sol LeWitt and Chuck Close at New York University, where he earned a BA in 1971. Two years later, he completed an MFA at the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, where he met David Salle. After moving back to New York, Bleckner purchased and moved into a Tribeca loft building in 1974. Painter Julian Schnabel rented three floors of the building, and the Mudd Club, a nightclub frequented by musicians and artists, occupied space there from 1977 to 1983. Bleckner sold the building in 2004. His first solo exhibition was held in 1975 at Cunningham Ward Gallery in New York. In 1979 he began his long association with Mary Boone Gallery in New York, which championed several of the so-called art stars of the 1980s. In 1981 Bleckner met Thomas Ammann, an important Swiss art dealer who went on to collect his work. Bleckner’s early 1980s Stripe...
Category

1990s Ross Bleckner

Materials

Archival Pigment

Beginners and Others
By Ross Bleckner
Located in Berkeley, CA
Color sugarlift and spitbite aquatints and aquatint. Somerset white paper Image size 20" x 20" Paper size 29" x 28" Edition of 35
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Ross Bleckner

Materials

Etching

PS, II
By Ross Bleckner
Located in Fairfield, CT
27-color silkscreen
Category

1990s Ross Bleckner

Materials

Screen

PS, II
$4,600
H 42 in W 33 in
Ross Bleckner "Pathways" Etching and Aquatint
By Ross Bleckner
Located in Astoria, NY
Ross Bleckner (American, b. 1949), "Pathways", Etching and Aquatint in Colors on Paper, 2002, marked "TPD" lower left, signed in pencil and dated lower right, part of a limited editi...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Ross Bleckner

Materials

Etching, Aquatint

PS lll
By Ross Bleckner
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Ross Bleckner "PS III" 1997 Screenprint 42 x 33 inches Edition of 75 unframed
Category

1990s Abstract Ross Bleckner

Materials

Screen

PS lll
PS lll
$3,600
H 42 in W 33 in
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Ross Bleckner Sale Prices

Sold DateSold PriceCategoryMediumCreation Year
2025$1,500Abstract PrintsPaper, Etching, Aquatint2002
2025$3,800Landscape PrintsRag Paper, Archival Pigment Print2019
$2,650
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months
$1,500-$3,800
Sold price range of items in the past 12 months

Artists Similar to Ross Bleckner

Ross Bleckner art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Ross Bleckner 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 orange, blue, pink and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Ross Bleckner in screen print, archival pigment print, pigment print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Ross Bleckner art, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of John Baldessari, David Collins, and Eduardo Chillida. Ross Bleckner art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,000 and tops out at $185,000, while the average work can sell for $4,000.

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