After receiving his bachelor of fine arts in painting and art history from the Emily Carr School of Art in 1974, Richard Hambleton launched his “Mass Murder” series. The series was painted on the streets of over 15 cities across Canada and the United States. Hambleton would outline friends in chalk drawings, splashing them with red paint to mimic the remnants of a crime scene.
In 1979, Hambleton moved permanently to the Lower East Side of New York City. It was here that Hambleton gained notoriety for his “Shadowman” paintings of the early 1980s. Over the course of the next decade, his ominous silhouettes painted in unsuspecting corners, alleys and side streets had appeared in over six hundred locations in major cities, including New York City, London, Paris, as well as both sides of the Berlin Wall.
A departure from the spontaneity of the traditional street tag, Hambleton’s paintings were site-specific conceptual works intended to provoke unsuspecting pedestrians with a sobering moment of contemplation. His first solo exhibition opened in the Lower East Side of New York in 1982, and just two years later, his work was included in the Venice Biennale. He was included in the Venice Biennale again in 1988. From 2009–11, a major retrospective was mounted in collaboration with Giorgio Armani, touring multiple venues that included the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and Phillips de Pury in New York.
Shadowman, a film about Hambleton by director Oren Jacoby, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 21 2017. Today, Hambleton’s works are held in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Moco Museum in Amsterdam, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, among others. Hambleton continued to live and work in New York until his death in 2017.
Find a collection of Richard Hambleton art on 1stDibs.
(Biography provided by Chase Contemporary)
"4 Shadows", 2012
By Richard Hambleton
Located in Edinburgh, GB
This work belongs to Richard Hambleton’s late Shadow period, in which the human figure is reduced to a haunting silhouette—simultaneously present and anonymous. In Four Shadows, Hamb...
Canvas, Oil
Standing Shadow - Run
By Richard Hambleton
Located in London, GB
2018 Giclée on 308gsm Hahnemuhle paper 145 x 77 cm Edition of 75 Numbered by Hambleton in pencil as well as bearing the Richard Hambleton Archive stamp verso Excellent condition Fram...
Paper, Giclée
Vendimiadora (Grape Harvester)
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Stanza Giclée Print on Canvas, Hand Signed, Edition of 95, Framed
By Tomasz Rut
Located in Aventura, FL
Giclee on canvas. Hand signed and numbered on front by the artist. Edition of 95. Canvas size 36 x 24 inches. Custom framed as pictured. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certi...
Canvas, Giclée
Thoughtful
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Splendor
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Tenderness
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Reflections of Self - Bruno Surdo, Original Oil Painting
By Bruno Surdo
Located in Chicago, IL
Reflections of Self is both a portrait and a meditation on perception—an exploration of identity filtered through surface, mirror, and painterly material. Bruno Surdo presents the si...
Oil, Paper
Peacefulness
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Shyness
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
Sweetness
By Roman Frances
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Canvas, Oil, Giclée
$8,800
H 27.75 in W 22.5 in
"Untitled" Small Male Child, Dressed for Boxing, Nostalgic, Antiqued Frame
Located in Detroit, MI
SALE ONE WEEK ONLY Steve Huston worked construction to support himself through college. That experience seems to have heightened his aesthetic interest i...
Canvas, Oil
$4,400
H 55 in W 45.5 in
"Esther Before the King" Biblical Scene in Contemporary Setting, Drama, Colors
Located in Detroit, MI
SALE ONE WEEK ONLY This captivating painting by an unknown artist takes the famous 17th century painting Esther before Ahasuerus by Artemisia Gentileschi and recontextualizes it for the modern era. In the original Old Testament story as depicted by Gentileschi, Esther, the Jewish wife of the king Ahasuerus went to him without being summoned after the king ordered the execution of all Jewish people in the Persian Empire. She asked him to spare her people, breaking court etiquette and risking almost certain death before fainting before the king. In this work we have the king of his house in his yellow recliner...
Canvas, Oil
$1,500
H 24 in W 13.75 in D 1 in
Ad Lunam Giclee Print on Canvas, Contemporary, Signed, Edition of 195
By Tomasz Rut
Located in Aventura, FL
Giclee on canvas. Hand signed and numbered on front by the artist. Edition of 195. Canvas size 24 x 13.75 inches. Canvas is stretched. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certifi...
Canvas, Giclée
Sold
H 24 in W 31 in
Untitled (Black Headshadow with Yellow and Orange Background)
By Richard Hambleton
Located in Los Angeles, CA
New York Times art critic Michael Brenson, when commenting on Hambleton's exceptional skill at handling paint, wrote, "When he throws white or black on the canvas, his waves break, h...
Mixed Media, Canvas