Bruce Conner

(American, 1933–2008)

Bruce Conner was an American conceptual artist and member of the San Francisco Beat movement. His diverse range of films, collages, and sculptural assemblages are defined by the artist’s fascination with the grotesque and mortality. Conner’s inspiration often came from Surrealist artwork and Victorian-era aesthetics, resulting in a unique juxtaposition of form and content, fact and fiction. One of his most famous works, Child (1959), functions as an homage to the executed inmate Caryl Chessman, and takes the form of a haunting skeletal figure rotting in a chair. “My work is described as beautiful, horrible, hogwash, genius, maundering, precise, quaint, avant-garde, historical, hackneyed, masterful, trivial,” the artist once wrote, listing numerous contradictions before concluding “it’s all true.” Born on November 18, 1933 in McPherson, KS, Conner received his BFA from Nebraska University before studying at the Brooklyn Museum Art School and the University of Colorado. Like other artists of his generation such as Robert Rauschenberg and Eva Hesse, he would be influenced by in different contemporary and historical movements, including Abstract Expressionism and Dada. Today, his works can be found in the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others. Conner died on July 7, 2008 in San Francisco, CA. In 2016, The Museum of Modern Art in New York mounted a major retrospective titled “It’s All True.”

Bruce Conner News

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Bruce Conner Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Bruce Conner (348 results)
TITLE LOST IN TRANSIT, 1958

Bruce Conner

TITLE LOST IN TRANSIT, 1958

Sale Date: October 2, 2020

Auction Closed

Roz: Negative Trend, 1978

Bruce Conner

Roz: Negative Trend, 1978

Sale Date: September 30, 2020

Auction Closed

Mabuhay Alley, 1978

Bruce Conner

Mabuhay Alley, 1978

Sale Date: September 30, 2020

Auction Closed

Changing Skin, 1978

Bruce Conner

Changing Skin, 1978

Sale Date: September 30, 2020

Auction Closed

Snakeskin, 1964

Bruce Conner

Snakeskin, 1964

Sale Date: August 18, 2020

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 1958

Bruce Conner

UNTITLED, 1958

Sale Date: July 17, 2020

Auction Closed

Morning Leaves, September 12, 2001, 2001

Bruce Conner

Morning Leaves, September 12, 2001, 2001

Sale Date: June 12, 2020

Auction Closed

March 17, 1959, 1959, 1959

Bruce Conner

March 17, 1959, 1959, 1959

Sale Date: June 11, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1965

Bruce Conner

Untitled, 1965

Sale Date: March 18, 2020

Auction Closed

Tar People, 1958

Bruce Conner

Tar People, 1958

Sale Date: March 12, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1970

Bruce Conner

Untitled, 1970

Sale Date: March 12, 2020

Auction Closed

Untitled (inkblots, two works), 1985

Bruce Conner

Untitled (inkblots, two works), 1985

Sale Date: March 12, 2020

Auction Closed

FIGURE OF DEATH, 1958

Bruce Conner

FIGURE OF DEATH, 1958

Sale Date: March 5, 2020

Auction Closed

Five works: (i) Will Shatters Bass Guitar..., 1978

Bruce Conner

Five works: (i) Will Shatters Bass Guitar..., 1978

Sale Date: December 12, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1965

Bruce Conner

Untitled, 1965

Sale Date: December 11, 2019

Auction Closed

504 and #503 (from SET OF FIVE) (two works), 1970

Bruce Conner

504 and #503 (from SET OF FIVE) (two works), 1970

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled (two works), 1970

Bruce Conner

Untitled (two works), 1970

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

Legal Tender from S.M.S. No. 2, 1968

Bruce Conner

Legal Tender from S.M.S. No. 2, 1968

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

505 and #502 (from SET OF FIVE) (two works), 1970

Bruce Conner

505 and #502 (from SET OF FIVE) (two works), 1970

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

111 and #112 (two works), 1970

Bruce Conner

111 and #112 (two works), 1970

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled (two works), 1970

Bruce Conner

Untitled (two works), 1970

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

501 (from SET OF FIVE), 1970

Bruce Conner

501 (from SET OF FIVE), 1970

Sale Date: October 17, 2019

Auction Closed

Report (16mm film print), 1967

Bruce Conner

Report (16mm film print), 1967

Sale Date: October 10, 2019

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1970

Bruce Conner

Untitled, 1970

Sale Date: October 10, 2019

Auction Closed

English (US)

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