The drawings by artist Robert Longo are a sensory experience: They are monumental, detailed and hard-hitting in their subject matter, which often includes critiques of power, social unrest and consumer capitalism.
Longo has spent his career exploring mediums as varied as the Photorealistic charcoal drawings for which he is best known and film direction. In all of his work, however, he draws inspiration from his deep background in sculpture. “I always think that drawing is a sculptural process. I always feel like I’m carving the image out rather than painting the image. I’m carving it out with erasers and tools like that,” he once said.
The Long Island, New York, native attended high school with a man who was shot at Kent State University while protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia during the Vietnam War in 1970, and the famous image of this man lying dead on the ground influenced Longo so deeply that he began to consider all art political. Longo attended Buffalo State College, where he met and became friends with artist Cindy Sherman, and later the two moved to New York City together.
Longo’s revered work includes his charcoal and graphite “Men in the Cities” drawings. The Photorealist series, which debuted at Metro Pictures gallery in Manhattan in 1981, depicted people in formal business clothing. Posing in suspended animation in unusual contortions, the figures take on a choreographic quality and represent the career-minded “yuppies” of the era.
“Men in the Cities” was inspired by punk rock music and decades later has been cited as a visual reference for the opening sequence of the popular television drama Mad Men. The work was among the most recognizable and iconic of the Pictures Generation — the movement by artists who came of age in the 1970s and were disillusioned by the social and political conditions of the time. In 2014, Longo created 12 charcoal drawings for a series titled “Gang of Cosmos,” which were black-and-white depictions of famous Abstract Expressionist works by artists like Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Lee Krasner.
Through his provocative, detailed and highly precise prints, drawings, photography and sculpture, Longo continues to challenge traditional sources of power and authority.
Find original Robert Longo art on 1stDibs.
Forest of Doxa - Contemporary, Pigment Print, Landscape, Nature, Trees
By Robert Longo
Located in Köln, DE
Pigment Print based on a photorealistic charcoal drawing "Forest of Doxa" by Robert Longo from 2014. The edition comprises 30 copies. The present copy is numbered in pencil lower...
Pigment
Untitled (Ariane) Archival Pigment Print, Pop Art, Signed Edition
By Robert Longo
Located in Aventura, FL
Hand signed and numbered by the artist. Archival pigment print on wove paper. Published by Adamson Editions, Washington, D.C. Sheet 33.86 X 52.76 in. Image: 29.92 x 48.82 in. Editio...
Archival Pigment
$14,481Sale Price|20% Off
Forest of Doxa - Contemporary, 21st Century, Pigment Print, Limited Edition
By Robert Longo
Located in Zug, CH
This mythological woodland hints at the enigma and emotions of nature with a masterful use of chiaroscuro. Robert Longo, Forest of Doxa Contemporary, 21st Century, Pigment Print, Li...
Pigment
$4,800
H 58 in W 58 in D 0.03 in
Seascape VII - large format photograph of cloud formations and reflecting sea
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale original photograph of dramatic cloud formations and reflecting sea SEASCAPE VII by Frank Schott 58 x 58 inches ( 147 x 147cm ) signed edition of 7 48 x 48 inches ( 12...
Photographic Paper, Archival Pigment, Black and White, Giclée, Archival ...
$3,600
H 48 in W 48 in
Seascape VII - large format photograph of cloud formations and reflecting sea
By Frank Schott
Located in San Francisco, CA
large scale original photograph of dramatic cloud formations and reflecting sea SEASCAPE VII by Frank Schott 48 x 48 inches ( 122 x 122cm ) signed edition of 7 58 x 58 inches ( 14...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Inkjet, Archival Pigment, Black and ...
Swing Over Pool
By Katherine Bradford
Located in London, GB
Artist: Katherine Bradford Title: Swing Over Pool Medium: Archival pigment print with silkscreen shimmer varnish and matte seal on Somerset Tub Sized Radiant White 410gsm paper. han...
Archival Pigment
$636Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 21 in
Warhol, Chanel (Green/Blue), Chanel Ad Campaign (after)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Fairfield, CT
Title: Chanel Year: 1997 Medium: Offset lithograph on archival paper mounted on canvas Size: 30 x 21 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed in the plate Notes: This special ...
Canvas, Offset
$636Sale Price|20% Off
H 30 in W 21 in
Warhol, Chanel (Red/Pink), Channel Ad Campaign (after)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Fairfield, CT
Title: Chanel Year: 1997 Medium: Offset lithograph on archival paper mounted on canvas Size: 30 x 21 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed in the plate Notes: This special ...
Canvas, Offset
$636Sale Price|20% Off
H 29 in W 22 in
Warhol, Chanel (Blue), Chanel Ad Campaign (after)
By Andy Warhol
Located in Fairfield, CT
Title: Chanel Year: 1997 Medium: Offset lithograph on archival paper mounted on canvas Size: 29 x 22 inches Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed in the plate Notes: This special ...
Canvas, Offset
$125
H 40 in W 25.5 in
Christo - The Wrapped Reichstag at Night, offset lithograph poster, plate signed
By Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Located in New York, NY
Christo The Wrapped Reichstag at Night, 1993 Offset Lithograph Plate signed (printed signature) by Christo on lower right front 40 × 25 1/2 inches Unframed and affixed to matting (a...
Lithograph, Offset
Salish Fishermen
By Billy Childish
Located in London, GB
Billy Childish Salish Fishermen 44 x 30.5 cm, edition of 200, 2022 hand-signed and numbered by the artist Billy Childish is a prolific British artist, musician, and writer known for...
Archival Pigment
$816
H 15.08 in W 12.01 in
Tree – Seattle Print, Hand-Signed, Edition of 200, 2022, 38.3x30.5 cm
By Billy Childish
Located in London, GB
Billy Childish, Tree – Seattle, 2022 38.3 x 30.5 cm, edition 99 of 200 hand-signed and numbered by the artist Billy Childish is a prolific British artist, musician, and writer kno...
Archival Pigment
West Texas Morning
By Kristin Moore
Located in New Orleans, LA
Archival pigment ink print on Hahnemuhle cotton paper, edition 17 of 30. In this new series of paintings, Moore explores themes of wanderlust and memory. From glowing neon signage, ...
Rag Paper, Archival Pigment
$475Sale Price|20% Off
H 36 in W 24 in
Max, Blushing Beauty, Hand Signed, Official Edition, Peter Max (after)
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Title: Blushing Beauty Year: 1999 Medium: Offset lithograph in colors on gloss archival paper Size: 24 x 36 inches Inscription: Hand signed by Peter Max in ink and unnumbered, as iss...
Offset
Great Wave with Doves, Peter Max
By Peter Max
Located in Fairfield, CT
Artist: Peter Max (1937) Title: Great Wave with Doves Year: 2002 Edition: 495/500, plus proofs Medium: Lithograph on Lustro Saxony paper Size: 4.87 x 4.5 inches Condition: Excellent ...
Lithograph
WAVE
By Robert Longo
Located in Aventura, FL
Hand signed, dated and numbered by the artist. Lithograph and screenprint on wove paper for Lincoln Center Festival. Published by the Lincoln Center List Poster and Print Project, Ne...
Paper, Lithograph, Screen
Wave
By Robert Longo
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Robert Longo, American (1953 - ) Title: Wave Year: 2003 Medium: Lithograph on Somerset, signed and numbered Edition: 108 Size: 16 x 40 in. (40.64 x 101.6 cm)
Lithograph
Wave (2003) Robert Longo
By Robert Longo
Located in Miami, FL
Robert Longo's black and white silkscreen print from his series Monsters (2000-2004), which was featured at the 2004 Whitney Biennial, is a work that is typical of Longo's highly det...
Screen