Contemporary art
Alexander Grigorievich Maksymenko (Russian: Александр Григорьевич Максименко) was a Soviet and Ukrainian painter of the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He is known as a painter, graphic artist, watercolorist, and art historian.
Alexander Maksymenko worked in the genres of still life, landscape, portrait, as well as in genre painting. His genre works cover themes of collective farm life, including "Masters of the Land" and "Innovators of Collective Farm Fields". For the latter work he received the Stalin Prize. The master actively participated in exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad. His works are in the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II, as well as in other art museums and private collections.
Herbert Ritts Jr. was an American fashion photographer and director known for his photographs of celebrities, models, and other cultural figures throughout the 1980s and 1990s. His work concentrated on black and white photography and portraits, often in the style of classical Greek sculpture, which emphasized the human shape.
Jan Leth Aagensen was a Danish artist. He made his name as a lithographer and later became known for his sculptures.
Jan Leth's formal training took place at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts under Professor Søren Hjort Nielsen from 1965 to 1969. His first exhibition took place in 1961 at Kunstnernes Forårudstilling (Spring Artists' Exhibition). He is a member of various art groups: Decembristerne, Kunstnersamfundet og Foreningen Danske Grafikere, the Association of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and the Association of Danish Painters Engravers.
Jan Leth has participated in various solo and group exhibitions, presenting paintings, sculptures, drawings, and installations in Denmark and abroad. He has received many honours and grants throughout his life. The Danish State gave him a lifelong economic grant in 1998. His work is represented in gallery collections in Denmark and internationally.
Pacita Abad was a renowned Filipino artist, celebrated for her vibrant and colorful artwork that showcased her deep engagement with global cultures and social issues. Born in 1946 in Batanes, Philippines, into a politically active family, Abad's life took a significant turn when she decided to abandon her law studies in favor of art, influenced by her interactions and travels across the globe. This decision led her to explore various art forms and techniques, including trapunto painting—a method where canvases are stitched and padded to create a three-dimensional effect.
Abad's art was profoundly influenced by her extensive travels with her husband, Jack Garrity, through more than 60 countries, where she not only collected textiles but also immersed herself in local cultures. This exposure is vividly reflected in her works, which often incorporate traditional fabrics and objects, such as beads and shells, integrating them into her colorful abstract and figurative paintings.
Throughout her career, Abad's works were displayed in over 200 museums and galleries worldwide, including prestigious venues like Tate Modern and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) PS1. Her work not only celebrates the visual and cultural diversity she encountered but also addresses global and humanitarian issues, such as the plight of refugees, which she depicted through intimate and powerful portraits of women and children.
Pacita Abad's legacy continues to inspire and influence the art world, highlighting her role as an "ambassador of colors" whose works helped to "make the world smile" with their exuberance and vibrancy. If you're interested in learning more about her life and work, consider signing up for updates on exhibitions and sales related to her art. This will keep you informed about opportunities to engage with and perhaps collect pieces from the oeuvre of this groundbreaking artist.
Magdalena Abakanowicz was a distinguished Polish artist, celebrated for her innovative use of textiles as a sculptural medium. Born on June 20, 1930, in Falenty, Poland, and passing away on April 20, 2017, in Warsaw, she carved out a significant place in the art world with her unique artistic expressions that often explored themes of crowd behavior, the trauma of war, and the individuality of the human condition.
Abakanowicz's education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw was a period of both artistic and personal growth, shaping her future works. During the 1960s, she began creating the "Abakans," large-scale textile sculptures that challenged conventional forms and expressed dynamic movement and vivid emotion. Her works often featured organic, tactile materials like burlap, resin, and wood, which added a profound depth and rawness to her sculptures.
Her sculptures are well-represented in major public installations and collections worldwide, including the National Museum in Wrocław, Poland, Grant Park in Chicago, and the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. These pieces are not just art forms but are experiences, inviting viewers to explore deeper psychological and existential themes.
For those captivated by the profound impact and the stirring beauty of Magdalena Abakanowicz's work, subscribing for updates can provide regular insights and information on exhibitions and sales of her works at auctions. This is an excellent way to stay connected with the legacy of an artist who continuously redefined the boundaries of sculpture and installation art.
Berenice Alice Abbott was an American photographer best known for her portraits of between-the-wars 20th century cultural figures, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science interpretation in the 1940s to 1960s.
Trey Abdella is an American artist who lives and works in New York. The challenges of living in a complex cosmopolitan city has served as the inspiration for his artworks, although the paintings themselves are not specifically about New York.
Trey Abdella’s art strives to resonate with human experiences and feelings. Abdella utilises simple universal iconography referenced from internet memes, movies and cartoons found in contemporary culture. He blends these icons with various aspects of anxiety he or his friends experienced from different scenarios encountered in daily life, portraying the underbelly of society. Abdella’s paintings express insecurity, embarrassment, fear, terror, disgust, unspeakable desires and emotions that we must conceal everyday in order to abide with social conventions and expectations.
Nuria Farre Abejon is a Spanish hyperrealist artist living and working in Barcelona, Spain.
Her often hyper-realistic works revolve around issues that concern her as a young woman: anxiety, melancholy, family, memories and identity. At first, Nuria created translucent paintings through which she represented the duality between life and death. Later she explored self-portraiture, and today Nuria tries to explore her present through photographs from her family album, through which she creates interesting visual oil collages.
Margitta Abels is a German artist known for her abstract paintings and mixed media works.
Margitta Abels has received numerous awards and honors for her work.
Abels' work is characterized by its use of color and texture to create complex and layered compositions. She often works with a variety of materials including acrylic paint, charcoal, and collage elements, and her work often incorporates textural elements such as sand and fabric.
Abdoulaye Diarrassouba, also known as Aboudia, is an American-Ivorian contemporary artist.
Aboudia began his artistic career early and has drawn attention for his expressive and emotional style. His work reflects the complex realities of the city and the experiences of locals during political and social crises. The painter often uses bright colours, rough strokes and abstract shapes to convey the violence, chaos and hope that are present in his subjects' lives.
Aboudia's artistic style mixes elements of graffiti, street art, African folk painting and contemporary art.
Marina Abramović is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, feminist art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind. Being active for over four decades, Abramović refers to herself as the "grandmother of performance art". She pioneered a new notion of identity by bringing in the participation of observers, focusing on "confronting pain, blood, and physical limits of the body". In 2007, she founded the Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), a non-profit foundation for performance art.
Victor Ashotovich Abramyan (Russian: Виктор Ашотович Абрамян) was a Soviet and Russian artist of the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. He is known as a painter, a representative of the Leningrad school.
Victor Abramyan created portraits, landscapes, still lifes and genre paintings. He participated in exhibitions from the early 1970s in Leningrad. Among his famous works are "Blockade everyday life", "Still Life with a Centennial", "Leningrad. 1942. Women on Guard in the besieged city", "Young Guests" and others.
Abramyan's works are in museums and private collections in Russia and many other countries.
Memet Abselyamovich Abselyamov (Russian: Мемет Абселямович Абселямов) was a mid-20th century Soviet artist of Crimean Tatar origin. He is known as a landscape painter.
Memet Abselyamov became famous in 1935 with his genre painting "Kolkhoznitsy Udarnitsy", which was awarded the All-Russian prize and acquired by the Moscow Museum of Folk Art. During his life in Tajikistan, where he came after the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, the artist created mainly landscapes, including the paintings "Night in the Crimea", "Crimean Cypresses", "Gurzuf. Where A. Pushkin visited", "Sunny Day", "Spring in Tajikistan", "The Last Ray" and others.
He was a member of such creative associations as "Krymkhudozhnik", the Union of Artists of the USSR, the Union of Artists of the Tajik SSR.
Vito Acconci was an American artist, designer, and architect. He is best known for his pioneering work in the field of performance art and for his provocative installations that explore the relationship between the human body and space.
Acconci received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Holy Cross College in 1962. He later earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Iowa.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Acconci became known for his groundbreaking performance works, which often involved the artist subjecting his own body to various forms of physical and psychological stress.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Acconci shifted his focus to installation art, creating immersive environments that challenged viewers' perceptions of space and their own bodies. He also worked as a designer and architect, creating public sculptures and buildings around the world.
Acconci's work has been exhibited in major museums and galleries worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Venice Biennale. He received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to contemporary art, including the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture in 1995.
His legacy as an influential and provocative artist continues to be felt in the contemporary art world today.
Gilberto Aceves Navarro was a Mexican painter and sculptor and a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and Academy of San Carlos. There have been more than two hundred individual exhibits of his work, with his murals found in Mexico, Japan and the United States. He received numerous awards for his work including grants as a Creador Artístico of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte, Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes and Bellas Artes Medal from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes.
Henri-Georges Adam was a French engraver and non-figurative sculptor of the École de Paris, who was also involved in the creation of numerous monumental tapestries. His work in these three areas is regarded as among the most extensive of the twentieth century.
Yevgeniya Mikhailovna Adamova (Russian: Евгения Михайловна Адамова) was a Soviet artist of the second half of the twentieth century. She is known as a painter, People's Artist of the Turkmen SSR.
Yevgeniya Adamova, who moved to Turkmenistan from Ukraine in her youth, was educated at the Ashgabat Art School. During the Great Patriotic War, she creatively expressed herself as a poster artist in the TurkmenTAG agency. The artist created thematic paintings dedicated to the life of the Turkmen people and portraits. She held the post of deputy chairman of the Union of Artists of Turkmenistan.
Robert Adams is an acclaimed American photographer known for his profound exploration of the American West's changing landscapes. His work, which gained prominence in the mid-1970s, delves into the tension between the natural beauty of the land and the marks of human encroachment. Adams's photography is a reflection on humanity's relationship with the environment, offering both a critique and a celebration of the landscape.
Robert Adams's notable series, such as "Turning Back" and "The New West," showcase his unique perspective on environmental and urban development issues. His work extends beyond just capturing images; it is a thoughtful commentary on the balance between nature and industrialization. His photographs, often devoid of people, focus on the land itself, telling a story of alteration and resilience.
Exhibitions of Adams's work, such as "American Silence: The Photographs of Robert Adams" at the National Gallery of Art, provide insight into his 50-year career and his ability to capture the silent yet profound narratives of the American landscape. His pieces are part of major collections and have been featured in numerous retrospectives, underlining his influence and significance in the world of photography.
For art collectors and enthusiasts, Robert Adams's work offers a poignant perspective on the American West, blending aesthetic beauty with critical environmental commentary. Engaging with his work invites reflection on our interaction with the landscape and our role in shaping the environment.
If you're interested in staying updated on Robert Adams's work and exhibitions, consider subscribing to newsletters from galleries and museums that feature his art. This way, you'll be informed about new displays of his work and opportunities to engage with his insightful perspectives on the American West.
Richard Adams is a British artist and illustrator living and working in Sussex.
Adams received an honors degree in graphic design from Leicester Polytechnic and initially worked as an illustrator in London. Richard Adams creates all his paintings using chalk pastels, then fixes and impregnates with a special varnish that leaves an impenetrable surface. He depicts a variety of English landscapes and seashores, often inhabited by quirky characters and animals, as well as amusing domestic scenes. The artist successfully captures the humor and absurdity of everyday life in a bygone and contemporary English style.
Adams' work is regularly exhibited in London and other UK cities to great acclaim, and internationally in Sydney, Washington DC, Bremen and Madrid.
Hans Peter Adamski is a German painter and graphic artist who lives and works in Berlin and Dresden.
He studied at the Dusseldorf Academy of Art and served as professor and dean of the Dresden University of Fine Arts. Adamski is one of the most important representatives of the Neue Wilden ("New Wilden") movement of the 1980s. In addition to painting, he works in drawing, sculpture, paper, fabric and plaster.
Terry Roger Adkins was an American artist. He was Professor of Fine Arts in the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.
Adkins was an interdisciplinary artist whose practice included sculpture, performance, video, and photography. His artworks were often inspired by, dedicated to, or referred to musicians or musical instruments; specific installations and exhibitions were sometimes labeled "recitals." Sometimes, these arrangements of sculptures were "activated" in performances by Adkins' collaborative performance group, the Lone Wolf Recital Corps.
Marc Adrian is an Austrian conceptual artist and filmmaker.
Adrian studied sculpture at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, from 1953 he became interested in cinema, kinetics, rhythmic interference, problems of optical structures, etc. Adrian is considered one of the pioneers of film-oriented media art. He specialized in kinetic objects, anti-cinema and computer art.
Marc Adrian has taught at various universities in Europe and lectured to American students.
Urs Aeschbach is a Swiss media artist working in various techniques. Nature is always a pictorial theme in Urs Aeschbach's paintings. Her main characters are mushrooms, woody plants, animals, jellyfish, as well as dogs and horses. The artist's paintings are inspired by photographs and illustrations. In addition to paintings, Eschbach creates art and construction projects, video works, as well as constructions and installations.
Taisia Kirillovna Afonina (Russian: Таисия Кирилловна Афонина) was a Soviet artist of the second half of the twentieth century. She is known as a painter, graphic artist, representative of the Leningrad school.
Taisia Afonina participated in exhibitions since 1940, creating portraits, landscapes, genre compositions, still lifes and etudes. At the beginning of her career she was interested in military subjects, and then delved into the genre of portraiture and lyrical landscape. Her style is characterized by tonal painting, the rendering of light and air environments and subtle coloristic combinations. In the 1980s she preferred the watercolor technique, painting flowers such as roses, daisies and tulips. Her works are in museums and private collections in Russia and other countries.
Yaacov Agam, an Israeli kinetic and optical artist born on May 11, 1928, is celebrated for revolutionizing the visual arts with his dynamic and interactive creations. Agam's pioneering work extends beyond traditional static art forms, inviting viewers into a transformative experience that changes with perspective and movement. His art, deeply rooted in his Jewish heritage and mysticism, eschews representational imagery for abstract, geometric forms and vibrant colors, engaging the observer's perception to complete the visual experience.
Notably, Agam's contributions to kinetic art have not only garnered him international acclaim but also led to his works commanding the highest prices among Israeli artists at auction. His innovative "Agamographs" use lenticular printing to create illusions of depth and motion, highlighting his fascination with the interplay between art, viewer, and the temporal dimension. Agam's significant exhibitions include retrospectives at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. His achievements are further recognized through multiple awards and the establishment of the Yaacov Agam Museum of Art in his hometown of Rishon LeZion, Israel, dedicated to his vision of art in motion.
For collectors and art and antiques experts, Agam's work represents a profound exploration of perception, time, and spirituality, offering a unique and engaging experience. His art invites us to see beyond the visible, reminding us of the ever-changing nature of reality and our active role in its perception. To stay updated on new product sales and auction events related to Yaacov Agam, sign up for updates and immerse yourself in the dynamic world of one of the most influential modern artists.
Abdul Ghani Ahmad is a contemporary Malaysian artist. He is known as a watercolorist working in the styles of realism and abstraction.
Abdul Ghani Ahmad creates landscape and rural landscapes as well as abstractions. His work is characterized by photographic precision and detail. Some of the artist's best known works include the Pristine Nature, Journey and Flora of Malaysia series. He has also produced a series of postcards with views of Malaysia.
Ahmad is a member of various art organizations including the Asian Watercolorists Confederation and the Malaysian Artists Union.
Wolfram Aïchele was an artist from Baden-Württemberg in Southern Germany, son of renowned animal artist Erwin Aichele. After training as a sculptor, he studied religious and Byzantine art, drawing inspiration from his pilgrimage to Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Mount Athos. Aïchele focused on painting icons using egg tempera, aiming to revive the pure iconographical style corrupted in the 19th century. He later moved to Paris, where he explored various influences such as Eastern European folk art, Persian miniatures, and modern artists like Chagall and Klee. Aïchele's work transitioned to a unique blend of figurative and abstract art, primarily expressed through watercolors and painted collages.
Yō Akiyama (秋山 陽) is a Japanese ceramicist based in Kyoto. He was a late leading figure of Sōdeisha, a twentieth-century avant-garde artist group that sought to redefine understandings of aesthetics and purpose in modern and contemporary ceramics, focusing on sculptural attributes over strict functionality. Akiyama studied directly under Kazuo Yagi, one of the founders of Sōdeisha, for six years. Akiyama later became a professor at Kyoto Municipal University of Arts and Music, where he is currently a Professor Emeritus, having retired in 2018. As an artist, he works primarily with black pottery, a technique that fires clay in low temp, smoky conditions to create a dark effect. His predominantly largescale work is richly textural and abstract, emphasizing the earthy materiality of the work as well as its form.
Fanizani Akuda is a self-taught sculptor from Zimbabwe, born in Zambia.
He was working as a stonemason in a quarry when he got his hands on a tool and created his first stone sculpture. With his own unique style, Fanizani was able to convey human emotion in stone with talent. His work can be recognized by the slitted eyes, rounded shapes, cheerful and smiling faces, and his themes are also happy families, human and animal interactions, often in pairs or groups. Fanizani also liked to carve whistle sculptures.
Thanks to Fanizani and his unique stone sculptures, Zimbabwe is internationally recognized today.
Sabyrbek Mambetsadykovich Akylbekov (Russian: Сабырбек Мамбетсадыкович Акылбеков) was a Soviet Kyrgyz artist of the mid-twentieth century. He is known as one of the first professional Kyrgyz painters in the USSR.
Sabyrbek Akylbekov became famous for his lyrical emotional landscapes. He made a significant contribution to the development of Kyrgyz fine arts through his creative, pedagogical and public activities. His works have been exhibited at many levels, including republican, all-Union and international exhibitions.
The master's works can be found in the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after G. Aitiev, the State Tretyakov Gallery and in museums of the CIS countries.
Tamam Al-Akhal is a Palestinian artist and educator living in Jordan. She studied at the Fine Arts College in Cairo. From 1957 to 1960, she taught art at the Makassed Girls College in Beirut. In 1959, she married Ismail Shammout. Al-Akhal has exhibited in Egypt, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Jordan, the United States, Kuwait, England, China, Morocco, Berlin, Paris, Rome, and Vienna. She gave a series of lectures at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in 2009. Her art appeared on more than a dozen covers of Palestinian Affairs, a magazine published by the Palestine Liberation Organization. She was also head of the PLO's Arts and Heritage section. With her husband, she painted a series of large murals known as "Palestine: The Exodus and the Odyssey."
Abdul Qadir Al Rassam was an Iraqi painter of the first half of the twentieth century. He is known as a painter and graphic artist and is considered the founder of modern Iraqi painting.
Al Rassam, a military officer by training, studied drawing at the Military College in Istanbul. Returning to Iraq, he created landscapes, portraits and murals. His work is characterized by historical and ethnographic accuracy. The master, according to critics, contributed to the influence of the European academic school on the Iraqi art scene.
Saleh al-Jumai'e is an Iraqi artist noted for his works that explore the notion of tracks left by ancient heritage. His works often integrate Arabic calligraphy in an abstract artwork. Al-Jumaie and his cohort became the group of artists that defined 1960s Iraqi art. Although al-Jumaie is best remembered as a painter, he also designed posters and produced a number of book covers. His early work features Arabic lettering, but over time the calligraphy became fainter. His interest in exploring new media and materials was maintained throughout his career. The idea of tracks left by tradition is a theme that Jumaie takes up in much of his work. For example, Pages from Old Books is a series of mixed media artworks that creates an illusion of surfaces on which fragments of script have been written.
Ismail Al-Sheikhly is a contemporary Iraqui artist. He belonged to one of the first art groups to appear in Iraq, 'La Societe Primitive', founded in 1950. The group later changed its name to 'The Pioneers' and kept it into the 1970s. Some of his works are influenced by Cubism, a movement which grew in popularity throughout the 1950s, and was the preferred artistic style of one of Al-Sheikhly's important contemporaries, Hafiz Drubi. Al Sheikhly’s early works are inspired by the Iraqi village life, though his later works are more focused on abstracted colour combinations and obscured backgrounds. Women feature highly as a central theme in his work. Painted in groups quite often, Al Sheikhly’s women are streamlined with oval faces and generic bodies and seem to always be in states of coming and going, whether that be to the mosque, to the souks, or to do some domestic task.
Saad Al-Tai is a contemporary Iraqi artist. He participated in several exhibitions in Baghdad and abroad. Al-Tai was a member of the Iraqi Impressionists Group. Despite the name of the group, Al-Tai was not categorically an impressionist, rather his style lent more towards cubist realism. For him, the colour of the painting was determined by its subject matter. Al-Tai is an award winning artist who, amongst other things, received Italian knighthood in 2005 in recognition for his efforts in fostering Iraqi-Italian cultural dialogue including founding and heading the Italian Language Department in 2002 at the College of Languages, Baghdad University.
Craig Alan is an American artist whose work displays a technical sophistication as well as a rich imagination.
After moving with his family to New Orleans, Alan worked as a street artist in his youth, creating portraits. Through his exceptional talent and through his own research, he eventually developed an admirable understanding and sense of textures, compositions and colors. Today, Craig Alan represents a wide range of artistic styles, from book illustration to naturalistic oil painting and his Populus Art.
Yuri Albert is a contemporary Russian artist, art theorist and educator; a member of the Moscow conceptualist circle. He currently lives and works in Moscow and Cologne.
Yuri Albert's works are in the collections of major Russian and international institutions.
Pyotr Filippovich Alberti (Russian: Пётр Филиппович Альберти) was a Soviet and Russian artist of the second half of the twentieth century. He is known as a painter, a representative of the Leningrad school.
Pyotr Alberti created portraits, landscapes, genre paintings. He actively exhibited since 1951 in Leningrad, demonstrating his works along with the masters of his time. The artist had a broad writing and bright coloring, expressive stroke and used various techniques. He paid special attention to the study of nature. In the late period of his career, he became fond of still life paintings with favorite motifs such as peonies and watermelons.
Alberti's works are preserved in museums and collections around the world.
Frederico Aguilar Alcuaz is a Filipino abstract painter, sculptor and ceramist, and master tapestry artist.
He studied painting at the University of the Philippines' School of Fine Arts, then lived and worked both in the Philippines and Spain, and in Brno, Czech Republic, he worked extensively on tapestries.
Alcuaz has earned international acclaim with his vivid abstract works in various genres and techniques, and he has exhibited extensively internationally.
