1985
Celebrated internationally for her large-scale abstract sculptures and site-specific works, provocative environmental artist Beverly Pepper was renowned for her ability to transform unwieldy industrial metals such as Cor-Ten steel and cast iron into seemingly weightless objets d’art.
Born in 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, Pepper studied advertising design, photography and industrial design at Pratt Institute before embarking on a career as a commercial art director. Meanwhile, she also attended the Art Students League and studied art theory at Brooklyn College under Hungarian painter György Kepes, who introduced her to the works of Man Ray and László Moholy-Nagy.
In 1949, Pepper shifted her interest from commercial art to painting, studying in Paris at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. There, she met Cubist painters André Lhote and Fernand Léger, and visited the studios of Constantin Brâncusi and Ossip Zadkine. Pepper’s work at the time, owing to her experiences in Europe following the war, was largely characterized by a social realist perspective.
Pepper developed a passion for sculpting following a trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia in 1960. She made her debut in 1962 with a series of carved tree trunks at a gallery in Rome. That same year, Pepper was invited to exhibit at the “Festival of Two Worlds” show in Spoleto, Italy alongside the likes of Henry Moore and Alexander Calder. To prepare for the exhibition, Pepper quickly learned how to weld and soon became an accomplished metalworker — an unusual skill for women at the time.
By the late 1960s and 1970s, Pepper became known for her stainless-steel abstract and still-life sculptures such as Matera Scatolata. She also created several abstract geometric, foil-embossed collage prints including Collage 1 and Collage 3. In later years, she used heavier materials including bronze, iron and Cor-Ten steel in her modern monumental works such as Curved Presence.
Throughout her sculpting career, Pepper had countless solo exhibitions and participated in group shows, and won several awards, including the Allied Arts Honor Award by the American Institute of Architects in 1999, the Alexander Calder Prize in 2000 and the International Sculpture Center Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. Her sculptures are part of the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.
On 1stDibs, discover authentic Beverly Pepper sculptures and prints.
Untitled
By Jack Youngerman
Located in Toronto, Ontario
We are excited to be offering this exemplary and impactful gouache on paper by one of Caviar20's favorite mid-century American artists: Jack Youngerman. This work is a striking exa...
Paper, Ink, Gouache
Cornucopia
By General Idea
Located in Toronto, Ontario
In 1967, General Idea was founded in Toronto by AA Bronson (b. 1946), Felix Partz (1945-1994), and Jorge Zontal (1944-1994). Over the course of 25 years, they made a significant contribution to postmodern and conceptual art in Canada and beyond. The group was both prolific and multi-disciplinary long before it became de rigueur. They use photography, sculpture, painting, mail art, video, installation, multiples, and performance. With their subversive approach and interest in parody and appropriation, General Idea addressed a broad range of social (and art-world) issues such as the cult of the artist, mass media, queer identity, and consumerism. Thematic continuity was a key element in General Idea's work. Early on they introduced talismans or logos that they would revisit and re-envision, including skulls, ziggurats, and poodles. This print comes from "Fear Management": a set of 8 prints...
Screen
Untitled
By Gershon Iskowitz
Located in Toronto, Ontario
It is somewhat hard to reconcile Gershon Iskowitz's (1921-1988) aesthetic with his personal history. Born to a religious family in Poland, Iskowitz was allowed to leave Yeshiva (Jew...
Watercolor
ABC
By Friedel Dzubas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Friedel Dzubas (1915-1994) was a Berlin-born, American abstract painter and a key artist associated with both the New York School and the Color Field movement. Dzubas studied art i...
Screen
The Megaron
By Ray Mead
Located in Toronto, Ontario
A founding member of Painters Eleven, Ray Mead (1921-1988) occupies a distinct place within the arc of postwar Canadian abstraction. Mead immigrated to Canada and settled in Hamilto...
Paper, Acrylic
Untitled
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Françoise Sullivan (b. 1923) is a trailblazing force in Canadian art, recognized not only for her groundbreaking work in modern dance but also for her prolific and versatile contribu...
Pastel
Untitled II
By Joseph Zirker
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Joseph Zirker (American, born 1924) Title: Untitled Year: 1988 Medium: Color monotype Paper: Arche 88 Size: 42 x 30 inches Signature: Signed and dated in pencil by the artist Printer: The artist Condition: Very good Frame: Unframed About the artist. Joseph Zirker is a noted American modern artist, educator, lecturer that was born on August 13, 1924 in Los Angeles, California, United States. As a young man he Served with United States Navy, from 1944 to 1946. He attended the University of California in Los Angeles 1946—1947. He got a bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Denver in 1949 and a master of Fine Arts, University Southern California, 1951. He was a printer and research fellow at Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles, 1961—1963. Lecturer University Southern California, 1963. Instructor Los Angeles County Art Institute, 1964, San Jose City College, California, 1966—1980. Lecturer Stanford University, 1981—1983, 1986—1990. All along his carer, he had numerous acclaimed shows in the U.S and abroad. He is known worldwide as an innovator in monotype and printmaking. His works are represented in private and public collections, both in the USA and worldwide, including: Grunwald Collection, U.C.L.A., Los Angeles, California, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania June Wayne, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, California Tamarind Archives, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, California, Charles White, Los Angeles, California Stanley Freeman Collection, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California Ben Smith...
Monotype
TLO
By Kathleen Sherin
Located in Buffalo, NY
An original assembled collagraphic monoprint with drypoint by American contemporary artist Kathleen Sherin. Kathleen began to explore printmaking as a MFA painting student at the ...
Monoprint
Untitled
By Brendan Lynch
Located in London, GB
Brendan Lynch Untitled, 2013 Signed, titled and dated 'Brendan Lynch Graphite and aluminium leaf on panel 152.6 x 121.9 cm 60.1 x 48 inches Brendan Lynch is a member of the Brooklyn...
Mixed Media
Untitled III
By Joseph Zirker
Located in San Francisco, CA
Artist: Joseph Zirker (American, born 1924) Title: Untitled Year: 1988 Medium: Color monotype Paper: Arche 88 Size: 42 x 30 inches Signature: Signed and dated in pencil by the artist Printer: The artist Condition: Very good Frame: Unframed About the artist. Joseph Zirker is a noted American modern artist, educator, lecturer that was born on August 13, 1924 in Los Angeles, California, United States. As a young man he Served with United States Navy, from 1944 to 1946. He attended the University of California in Los Angeles 1946—1947. He got a bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Denver in 1949 and a master of Fine Arts, University Southern California, 1951. He was a printer and research fellow at Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles, 1961—1963. Lecturer University Southern California, 1963. Instructor Los Angeles County Art Institute, 1964, San Jose City College, California, 1966—1980. Lecturer Stanford University, 1981—1983, 1986—1990. All along his carer, he had numerous acclaimed shows in the U.S and abroad. He is known worldwide as an innovator in monotype and printmaking. His works are represented in private and public collections, both in the USA and worldwide, including: Grunwald Collection, U.C.L.A., Los Angeles, California, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York Free Library of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania June Wayne, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, California Tamarind Archives, Tamarind Lithography Workshop, Los Angeles, California, Charles White, Los Angeles, California Stanley Freeman Collection, Los Angeles County Museum, Los Angeles, California Ben Smith...
Monotype
UNTITLED
By Ilya Bolotowsky
Located in Portland, ME
Bolotowsky, Ilya (American, born Russia, 1907-1981). From PORTFOLIO III Silkscreen (serigraph) printed in two shades of red and in blue on white wove paper, 1965. Published by Paraso...
Screen
Untitled
Located in New York, NY
Woodblock print Signed in pencil, recto 12 x 9 inches This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
Color
