Renowned painter and sculptor, is best known for his figurative paintings, which combine a loose, luminous formal style with iconic works from art history, commercial culture, and everyday life. Rivers was born Yitzroch Loiza Grossberg in New York, and changed his name while a teenager. Interested in jazz as a youth, Rivers played the saxophone and studied music at The Juilliard School. Following a brief period of service in World War II, Rivers began to paint at the encouragement of his friends. He studied with Hans Hofmann in the late 1940s and, though he was influenced early on by Abstract Expressionist artists, chose to apply his skill in draftsmanship to works depicting naturalistic subject matter with loose, flowing brushstrokes. In the 1950s, he received both positive and negative critical attention for his appropriation of famous paintings in his own works, including reinventions of Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware, by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze (American, 1816–1868), Olympia, by Édouar Manet (French, 1832–1883), and paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669), Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (French, 1780–1867), and Paul Cézanne (French, 1839–1906). Rivers’ work prefigured many of the concepts pursued by 1960s Pop artists; he incorporated items from mass media and commercial culture into his works, as well as unusual materials and found objects. Rivers also collaborated with several artists spanning different mediums, including set design, poetry, sculpture, and music; his interest in jazz consistently affected the rhythmic visual composition of his paintings. Beginning in the 1970s, Rivers used airbrushing, stenciling, printmaking, and assemblage in his art. In 1977, Rivers exhibited his work at documenta VI in Kassel, Germany, and he has held several retrospectives, including exhibitions at the Kunsthalle in Munich, the Stattliche Kunsthalle in Berlin, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Rivers continued several projects, including works concentrating on fashion, up until his death in 2002. He was 79 years old.
Born: 1923; Bronx, NY
Died: 2002; New York, NY
EDUCATION
1951 B.A., New York University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York; also 2015, 2012, 2009, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1961, 1962
2014 Larry Rivers: Vernissage, Michel Vidal, Paris, France
2010 Larry Rivers: Pop Icons, Vered Gallery, East Hampton, NY
2008 Early Major Works, Guild Hall, East Hampton, NY
2005 Marlborough, New York; (also 1970, 1973, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, -
1994, 1997)
2002 Retrospective, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
2001 Fashion Show Monte Carlo 2001, Lord and Taylor, New York and Marlborough Gallery, New York
1999 Fashion Show, Marlborough Gallery, New York 1993 Galeria Marlborough, Madrid
1992 Galleria d’Art Il Gabbiano, Rome, Italy
Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY
1991-92 Traveling print exhibition: Elaine Horwich Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, and Santa Fe, NM; Gallery 454 North, -
Los Angeles; The Remba Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Magidson Gallery, Aspen, CO; Marilyn Wilson –
Gallery, Birmingham, AL; The Hokin Gallery, Miami; Robert Stein Fine Art, St. Louis; Hokin/Kaufman –
Gallery, Chicago; Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, NY
1991 Galeria Antonio Machon, Madrid
1990-92 Traveling exhibition: The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH; Norton Gallery of Art, West –
Palm Beach, FL; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN; Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, -
AZ; J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY
1990 Marlborough Fine Art, London Galerie Beaubourg, Paris
Fandos Galeria de Arte Moderno, Valencia, Spain
1988 Spoleto Festival U.S.A., Gibbs Art Gallery, Charleston, SC
1987 Simms Fine Art, New Orleans
1986 Adelphi University Center, Garden City, New York
Jan Turner Gallery, Los Angeles
1985-86 Marlborough Fine Art, Tokyo
1985 Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 1984-85 The Jewish Museum, New York
1984 Kouros Gallery, New York
1983 Elaine Horwich Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, NY
Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL 1982 Studio Marconi, Milan, Italy
1981-82 Traveling exhibition: F.I.C.A., Paris
Marlborough Fine Art (London) Ltd.
1980-82 Traveling retrospective exhibition: Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover; Kunstverein, Munich; Kunsthalle, -
Tübingen; Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany
1978 ACA Galleries, New York
1977 Robert Miller Gallery, New York
Gimpel Fils, London 1976 Gimpel Fils, London
1973-74 Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium
1970 The Art Institute of Chicago (drawings)
1965-66 Traveling retrospective exhibition: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA; Pasadena Art –
Museum, Pasadena, CA; The Jewish Museum, New York; The Detroit Institute of Arts; The Minneapolis –
Institute of Arts
1964 Gimpels Fils, London
1963 Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
Gimpel Fils, London Galerie Rive Droîte, Paris
1961 Martha Jackson Gallery, New York (sculpture) Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1955-60 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
1954 Stable Gallery, New Yok
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
1953 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
1952 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
1951 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
1949 Jane Street Gallery, New York
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 BEAT Generation, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Master Drawings: Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Paul Klee, Lee Bontecou and others, Jason McCoy, Inc., NY
2013 John Ashbery Collects: Poet Among Things” Loretta Howard Gallery, New York AMERICAN DREAM, -
Agnellini Arte Moderna, Brescia, Italy
The Pop Object: The Still Life Tradition in Pop Art, Acquavella Galleries, New York
2012 Poems and Pictures, Columbia College, Chicago
The Declaration of Independence: The Stone Copy and the Kent Bicentennial Portfolio, Speed Art –
Museum, Louisville, KY
2011 Painters and Poets, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
Behind Those Planes Are the Stars, The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery Skidmore –
College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery
Surrounding Bacon & Warhol, Astrup Fearnley Museet for Moderne Kunst, Oslo
2010 American Still Life: Treasures from the Parrish Art Museum, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton
Seven Artists Inspired by Hanukkah, The Jewish Museum of New York, New York
Abstract Expressionist New York, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Artists at Max’s Kansas City, 1965-1974, Loretta Howard Gallery, New York
2009 Larry Rivers: 50s-60s, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York 2007
Wit and Whimsy, Marlborough Gallery, New York
Sobre el Humor, Galeriá Marlborough, Madrid, Spain
2006 Summer Show, Marlborough Graphics, New York
2005 Works on Paper, Marlborough Gallery, New York
Internationale Zeichnungen, Galerie Biedermann, Munich, Germany
2004 Masterpieces from the Guggenheim Collection: From Renoir to Warhol, Bunkamura Museum of Art, -
Tokyo, Japan
2000 On Paper, Marlborough Gallery, New York Paintings, Marlborough Gallery, NY and Marlborough –
Monte-Carlo, Monaco
1999 Larry Rivers - Pastels, Manolo Valdés - Paintings, Fondation Veranneman, Kruishoutem, Belgium
In Memory of My Feelings: Frank O’Hara and American Art, The Museum of Contemporary Art, L.A.
1998 Forma y Figuración: obras maestras de la colección Blake-Purnell, Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain
1998 Coming Off the Wall, The Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA
1973 Swedish Museum of Art
1967 In Memory of my Feelings, The Museum of Modern Art, New York
1959 Painting-Poems, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
1952 Tibor de Nagy Gallery, New York
Selected Public Collections:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Tate Modern Museum, London
Collection Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris The Art Institute of Chicago, IL
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
The Jewish Museum, New York
De Menil Foundation, Houston, TX
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Albright-Knox Art Museum, Buffalo, NY
Museo de Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City
Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Svenske-Franska Konstgalliert, Stockholm
Museo de Abstracta, Cuenca, Spain
The Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY
Akron Art Museum, OH
The Baltimore Museum of Art, MA
The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
Dallas Museum of Art, TX
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, IN
Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY
Kansas City Art Institute, MO
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute of Modern Art, Utica, NY
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Caracas, Venezuela
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO
Allentown Art Museum, PA
Neuberger Museum, Purchase, NY
New England Merchants National Bank, Boston, MA
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC
Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
Vivendi Universal, New York
Weatherspoon Gallery of Art, University of North Carolina at Greensboro Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA