Lorna Simpson

(American, born 1960)

Lorna Simpson is an American artist best known for her black-and-white photographs and works on paper—both of which explore the interplay between historical memory, culture, and identity. Often associated with postcolonial and feminist critique, Simpson’s work seeks to explicate the ways in which race and gender shape human interactions, specifically in the United States, through the medium of portraiture. “I do not feel as though issues of identity are exhaustible,” the artist has said. “I feel that my critique of identity, which in the past work may be the most obvious, becomes the foreground or recedes given the structures of the text or the type of narrative that I impose on the work.” In her most famous work Stereo Styles (1988), she explores the way in which identity is externally projected, displaying 10 images of an African American woman in different hairstyles alongside text that reads “Sweet,” “Ageless,” and “Magnetic.” Born in 1960 in Brooklyn, NY, Simpson studied photography at School of Visual Arts in New York and received an MFA from the University of California at San Diego, where she studied under Allan Kaprow and Eleanor Antin. In 1986, she received critical attention for her photographic series Twenty Questions (A Sampler), which evaluated the importance of image in contemporary society. In 2007, she was the subject of the retrospective titled “Lorna Simpson” at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and she first exhibited paintings in 2015. Simpson lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She was married to fellow artist James Casebere from 2007 to 2018. Today, her works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, and the Miami Art Museum, among others.

Lorna Simpson News

On View

A New Survey of Black Portraiture Rewrites the Art Historical Canon

by Jo Lawson-Tancred
A New Survey of Black Portraiture Rewrites the Art Historical Canon
Art Collectors

L.A. Collector Eileen Harris Norton on a Lifetime Spent Championing Artists of Color

by Lee Carter
L.A. Collector Eileen Harris Norton on a Lifetime Spent Championing Artists of Color
Museums & Institutions

What Goes on Behind the Scenes at a Guggenheim Show? These Eye-Opening Polaroids Photos Offer a Rare Peek

by Min Chen
What Goes on Behind the Scenes at a Guggenheim Show? These Eye-Opening Polaroids Photos Offer a Rare Peek

Lorna Simpson Artworks

Artworks for Sale &
Auction Results

Lorna Simpson (245 results)
Backdrops, circa 1940s (complete set of 2), 1998

Lorna Simpson

Backdrops, circa 1940s (complete set of 2), 1998

Sale Date: October 28, 2013

Auction Closed

Cure/Heal (from 10: Artist as Catalyst), 1992

Lorna Simpson

Cure/Heal (from 10: Artist as Catalyst), 1992

Sale Date: October 3, 2013

Auction Closed

Details (portfolio of 21 works), 1996

Lorna Simpson

Details (portfolio of 21 works), 1996

Sale Date: September 10, 2013

Auction Closed

C-rations, 1991

Lorna Simpson

C-rations, 1991

Sale Date: May 30, 2013

Auction Closed

III, 1994

Lorna Simpson

III, 1994

Sale Date: May 17, 2013

Auction Closed

Counting, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Counting, 1991

Sale Date: April 30, 2013

Auction Closed

III (wish #1, wish #2, wish #3) (set of 3), 1994

Lorna Simpson

III (wish #1, wish #2, wish #3) (set of 3), 1994

Sale Date: April 8, 2013

Auction Closed

Details (portfolio w/21 works), 1996

Lorna Simpson

Details (portfolio w/21 works), 1996

Sale Date: December 13, 2012

Auction Closed

III (wish #1, wish #2, wish #3) (set of 3..., 1994

Lorna Simpson

III (wish #1, wish #2, wish #3) (set of 3..., 1994

Sale Date: November 5, 2012

Auction Closed

Counting, 1991

Lorna Simpson

Counting, 1991

Sale Date: November 1, 2012

Auction Closed

III (Wishbones), 1994

Lorna Simpson

III (Wishbones), 1994

Sale Date: October 23, 2012

Auction Closed

Recall, 1998

Lorna Simpson

Recall, 1998

Sale Date: October 18, 2012

Auction Closed

Corridor (Inkwell), 2003

Lorna Simpson

Corridor (Inkwell), 2003

Sale Date: October 13, 2012

Auction Closed

III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box) (set of 3), 1994

Lorna Simpson

III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box) (set of 3), 1994

Sale Date: October 23, 2012

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1995

Lorna Simpson

Untitled, 1995

Sale Date: July 14, 2012

Auction Closed

The Bathroom (in 4 parts), 1998

Lorna Simpson

The Bathroom (in 4 parts), 1998

Sale Date: May 11, 2012

Auction Closed

Untitled (in 7 parts), 1990

Lorna Simpson

Untitled (in 7 parts), 1990

Sale Date: April 4, 2012

Auction Closed

Portrait, 1988

Lorna Simpson

Portrait, 1988

Sale Date: March 6, 2012

Auction Closed

C-ration, 1991

Lorna Simpson

C-ration, 1991

Sale Date: March 9, 2012

Auction Closed

2 bodies of water (in 3 parts), 1993

Lorna Simpson

2 bodies of water (in 3 parts), 1993

Sale Date: March 7, 2012

Auction Closed

Untitled (in 3 parts), 1993

Lorna Simpson

Untitled (in 3 parts), 1993

Sale Date: February 15, 2012

Auction Closed

Untitled (Upper case wig/Lower case wig), 1994

Lorna Simpson

Untitled (Upper case wig/Lower case wig), 1994

Sale Date: November 12, 2011

Auction Closed

Untitled (from In a dream), 1991

Lorna Simpson

Untitled (from In a dream), 1991

Sale Date: October 21, 2011

Auction Closed

Details set (set of 21), 1996

Lorna Simpson

Details set (set of 21), 1996

Sale Date: June 8, 2011

Auction Closed

English (US)

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