Ross Bleckner Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
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.
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Artist: Ross Bleckner
Ross Bleckner Watercolor Figure Painting
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Ross Bleckner (American, b. 1949)
Untitled, c. 1970
Watercolor on paper
Sight size: 21 x 15 in.
Framed: 31 2/3 x 25 3/4 in.
Signed verso: Ross B/ho
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 by Lisa Liebmann, in ARTnews, May 1993...
Category
1970s Contemporary Ross Bleckner Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
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Ross Bleckner Still Life Drawing
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Ross Bleckner (American, b. 1949)
Untitled
Graphite on Paper
13 3/4 x 11 in.
Ross Bleckner grew up in Hewlett, Long Island, New York; drawing all the time without being aware that o...
Category
1960s Contemporary Ross Bleckner Drawings and Watercolor Paintings
Materials
Graphite, Paper
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Ross Bleckner drawings and watercolor paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Ross Bleckner drawings and watercolor paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Ross Bleckner in graphite, paint, pencil 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 drawings and watercolor paintings, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Joanne Grune-Yanoff, Wayne Ensrud, and Gail Norfleet. Ross Bleckner drawings and watercolor paintings 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 $2,000, while the average work can sell for $1,500.