Bernar Venet creates large-scale site-specific installations, works of avant-garde performance art and other provocative pieces that have earned him a place among France’s most significant Conceptual artists. He is also known for his abstract and figurative drawings, as well as abstract sculptures.
Venet was born in 1941 in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France as Bernard Venet. In 1958, he attended EMAP Villa Thiole in Nice and decided to pursue an artistic career. Venet moved to New York City in 1961 and started to garner recognition for his monochromatic tar paintings and coal sculptures. It was during this period that he dropped the “d” from his first name.
In 1971, Venet took a break from making art and spent some time teaching art theory at the University of Paris. He decided to resume his artistic work in 1976 and showed his work the following year at Kassel, Germany’s “documenta 6,” a contemporary art exhibition that has featured the likes of Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Willem de Kooning and others. Around this time, Venet pivoted to working with wood and created a series of reliefs called “Arcs, Angles and Straight Lines.” The National Endowment of the Arts recognized Venet with a grant in 1979.
The grant kicked off two decades of exhibitions throughout Europe, the United States, Asia and South America. To date, Venet has participated in more than 40 public sculpture exhibitions and created monumental installations in cities around the globe, including Berlin, Denver, Auckland, Geneva, Austin, Tokyo, Vancouver and more.
In 2005, the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur awarded him with the highest order of merit in France. He was also awarded the International Sculpture Center Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture in 2016. Venet’s works are held in the collections of leading museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre Pompidou.
Venet lives and works between New York City and Le Muy.
On 1stDibs, find original Bernar Venet paintings, prints, sculptures and more.
Two Arcs of 236.5° Each
By Bernar Venet
Located in London, GB
A striking example of Bernar Venet’s iconic Arc series, Two Arcs of 236.5° Each (1988) embodies the artist’s rigorous exploration of mathematical form and controlled randomness. Exec...
Steel
Price Upon Request
236.5˚ Arc x 4, Rolled Steel Sculpture by Bernar Venet
By Bernar Venet
Located in Long Island City, NY
A large indoor/outdoor welded iron sculpture by Bernar Venet circa 1990. An iconic modern art sculpture of iron with black patina, title stamped ...
Steel
Cumulus - Mixed Media Abstract Sculptural Artwork
By Kristina Fjellman
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Kristina Fjellman, a Minnesota-based visual artist and performer, seamlessly blends sculpture and performance art in her captivating work. She has garnered recognition with exhibitio...
Steel
$2,050
H 28 in W 12 in D 8 in
Deep Roots - Original Elegant Organic Abstract Redwood Sculpture with Maple Base
By Joe Garnero
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Garnero’s medium of choice for his winding abstract wood sculptures is reclaimed Redwood roots, which he finds along the northern California coast. The distinct curving shapes of...
Steel
$7,500
H 40 in W 20 in D 24 in
Swift - bright, colourful, abstract, pop art, painted stainless steel sculpture
By Viktor Mitic
Located in Bloomfield, ON
A heart-shaped symbol in bright red and white crowns a stack of sculptural pieces in this playful abstract work created by Viktor Mitic. Swift was inspired from photos and sketching'...
Steel
$7,000
H 34 in W 11 in D 10 in
Purple Heart - bright, colourful, abstract, pop art, painted steel sculpture
By Viktor Mitic
Located in Bloomfield, ON
A heart-shaped symbol in bright purple and royal blue crowns a stack of sculptural pieces in this playful abstract work created by Viktor Mitic. Purple Heart was inspired from photos...
Steel
$2,994Sale Price|20% Off
H 9.45 in W 6.7 in D 8.67 in
Hyperrealistic Bronze Female Head Lost-Wax Sculpture, Hollow Skull, Contemporary
By Óscar Aldonza Torres
Located in FISTERRA, ES
Hyperrealistic bronze female head sculpture with hollowed skull evokes mystery and organic patina. Soño (24 × 17 × 22 cm) by Aldonza is cast by the artist using the traditional lost-...
Bronze
$850
H 8 in W 9 in D 2.5 in
Artist Designed Signed Judaica Israeli Menorah Candelabra Sculpture Silver Plate
Located in Surfside, FL
N. Levi (signed in Hebrew and English) Menorah Done in a brutalist design with the Hebrew words "Seek the peace of jerusalem" Dimensions: 8 X 9 X 2.5 inches This appears to be silver plated as I do not see a silver standard mark or hallmark. There has been a resurgence of fine artists making Judaica, There was initial generation of the Bezalel School in Jerusalem and later Ludwig Wolpert at the Jewish Museum in New York City, whose spare, geometric, functionalist style was influenced by the Bauhaus school in particular and modernism in general, Moshe Zabari, Maxwell Chayat, in New York, Menachem Berman...
Metal, Silver
$26,300
H 100 in W 48 in D 48 in
Looking - tall, geometric abstract, powder coated outdoor steel sculpture
By Ry Van Der Hout
Located in Bloomfield, ON
In this intriguing sculpture by Ryan Van Der Hout, a multitude of mirrors reflect the images of sky and land that surround it. Forged from powder-coated steel, each lens is mounted o...
Steel
$1,350
H 12 in W 21.5 in D 13 in
Sculpture, abstract record player: 'Kristallo'
By Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat
Located in New York, NY
The artistic collaboration of Kelly Bugden + Van Wifvat has produced a thought-provoking body of sculptures, paintings, and constructions. Nature, childhood memories, and everyday ar...
Brass, Steel
$2,650
H 40 in W 10 in D 10 in
Diva - Original Medium Size Abstract Organic Form Redwood Sculpture on Wood Base
By Joe Garnero
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Joe Garnero’s medium of choice for his winding abstract wood sculptures is reclaimed Redwood roots, which he finds along the northern California coast. The distinct curving shapes of...
Steel
$7,600
H 34 in W 26 in D 14 in
Minor Meteor - colourful, abstract, pop art, painted steel sculpture
By Viktor Mitic
Located in Bloomfield, ON
Captivated by the colour, form, and pattern of paint splatterings in his Toronto studio, artist Viktor Mitic re-imagined them as compelling abstract sculptures. Minor Meteor was created from photos and sketchings he made of the paint marks manipulated on a computer. The brilliant colours—turquoise, hot pink, and lime green accented...
Steel
$2,400
H 33 in W 12 in D 12 in
Bouquet - Modern Minimalist Contemporary Floral Bouquet Steel Sculpture
By Granville Beals
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Inspired by dance and weightlessness, Granville Beals' industrial metal sculptures are primarily about relationships. Concerned with form and abstraction, he does not merely manipula...
Metal, Steel
Terrace Disc, red orange
By Michael Freed and Adam Rosen
Located in Santa Fe, NM
one wall disc sits about 4.5 inches from the wall powder coated steel includes wall mount bracket that can be secured with lock for public installation can b...
Steel
Indeterminate Line
By Bernar Venet
Located in Östermalm, Stockholms län
Unique sculpture Indeterminate Line. 1988. Rolled steel with black patina. Archives Bernar Venet, New York. Inventory no: bv88ss21 This artwork is accompanied by a certificate of a...
Steel
Sold
H 4.73 in W 19.69 in D 19.69 in
Bernar Venet Effondrement: 10 Arcs Black Patinated Steel Sculpture 2016
By Bernar Venet
Located in Paris, FR
Bernar Venet, Effondrement: 10 Arcs 2016 Steel shot with black patina. Signed and numbered “xx/27”. Edition of 27. Bernar Venet is a French conceptual artist known for his metal scu...
Steel