Skip to main content

Ross Bleckner Abstract 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.

to
1
1
2
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
1
1
2
1
2
1
3
3
2
1
1
70
663
619
477
342
3
Artist: Ross Bleckner
My Sister's Brain
By Ross Bleckner
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Ross Bleckner My Sister’s Brain, 2013 Oil on linen 84 x 72 inches
Category

2010s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

My Sister's Brain
My Sister's Brain
$100,000 Sale Price
20% Off
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 Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Ross Bleckner Abstract Oil Painting
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Ross Bleckner (American, b. 1949) Untitled, c. 1970 Oil on canvas 43 x 34 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 Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Related Items
Woman & Child
By Christopher Mudgett
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Mother & Child, 2016 By Christopher Mudgett This powerful and emotive original oil painting from the artist's 2016 "Mother & Child" series encapsulates a profound moment of tenderne...
Category

2010s Contemporary Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Woman & Child
Woman & Child
$119,500
H 48 in W 36 in D 2 in
Large Contemporary Abstract Oil Painting on Linen Canvas. 170 x 210 cm
By Rubins J. Spaans
Located in ALP, ES
Large abstract painting on linen canvas by Dutch contemporary artist and art teacher Rubins J. Spaans. The painting is a color study that takes the vie...
Category

2010s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Linen, India Ink, Oil, Watercolor

"Take Me With You" (contemporary, white, black, floral, painting, antique linen)
By Nicholas Evans
Located in Paris, IDF
TAKE ME WITH YOU 2024 Paris, France Canvas composition is divided in half, with the upper potion focused on a floral bouquet, and the bottom half left unfinished other than a subtl...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil, Acrylic

Joy Bomb Triptych, Colorful Abstract Landscape, Oil on Boards Ready to Hang
By Alex K. Mason
Located in Versailles, KY
Three colorful oil paintings on finished boards and ready to hang by Alex K. Mason. Lush foliage, vivid sky, bees circling flowers "Joy Bomb Tripytch" is painted in vivid pinks, blu...
Category

2010s Abstract Expressionist Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Untitled
By Jacqueline Humphries
Located in Indianapolis, IN
signed verso. Exhibited John Good Gallery, New York. In 2005 a fire broke out in Jacqueline Humphries’s studio in Manhattan’s Financial District. “You know how they say, about a pai...
Category

20th Century Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Untitled Jacques Rouby (1953-2019) Contemporary abstract art painted cardboard
Located in Paris, FR
Painted sculpted cardboard Unique work Coming from the artist's studio Jacques ROUBY, the aesthetics of mystery "Experimental dreamer, passionate about graphic adventures, delibera...
Category

1990s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Woman with Clasped Hands
By Christopher Mudgett
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Woman with Clasped Hands, 2017 by Christopher Mudgett A striking embodiment of strength and introspection, Woman with Clasped Hands (2017) challenges traditional portrayals of the f...
Category

2010s Contemporary Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Untitled
By Alexandre Charriol
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Provenance: The artist Karl Hutter Fine Art, Beverly Hills
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Crayon, Oil

Untitled
$4,500 Sale Price
25% Off
H 38 in W 52 in D 2 in
Untitled Jacques Rouby (1953-2019) Contemporary abstract art sculpted cardboard
Located in Paris, FR
Painted sculpted cardboard Unique work Coming from the artist's studio Jacques ROUBY, the aesthetics of mystery "Experimental dreamer, passionate about graphic adventures, delibera...
Category

1990s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Listen
Located in Jönköping, SE
NOTE: THIS PAINTING CANNOT BE SHIPPED UNTILL THE END OF SEPTEMBER BECAUSE OF REQUIRED DRYING TIME. IT WILL BE SHIPPED IN A CRATE AND READY FOR HANGING. This painting is from my se...
Category

2010s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Listen
Listen
$4,786
H 53.94 in W 44.89 in D 1.58 in
Untitled Jacques Rouby (1953-2019) Contemporary abstract art sculpted cardboard
Located in Paris, FR
Painted sculpted cardboard Unique work Coming from the artist's studio Jacques ROUBY, the aesthetics of mystery "Experimental dreamer, passionate about graphic adventures, delibera...
Category

1990s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Oil, Cardboard

Untitled
Located in Austin, TX
Oil on linen. Estate stamp verso. Unsigned. 71.25 x 40.5 in. 72.75 x 42 in. (framed) Custom framed in a solid maple floater with a polyurethane clear coat finish. Provenance Estat...
Category

1970s Abstract Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Raw Linen

Previously Available Items
Untitled
By Ross Bleckner
Located in New York, NY
Oil and watercolor on paper 12 x 16 inches This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
Category

1980s Contemporary Ross Bleckner Abstract Paintings

Materials

Paper, Oil, Watercolor

Ross Bleckner abstract paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Ross Bleckner abstract paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Ross Bleckner in oil paint, paint, fabric 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 abstract paintings, so small editions measuring 20 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Ralph Anderson, Nina Tichava, and Mary Amendola Marley. Ross Bleckner abstract paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $4,000 and tops out at $185,000, while the average work can sell for $10,000.

Still Thinking About These?

All Recently Viewed