Mel Bochner

(American, born 1940)

Mel Bochner is an American Conceptual artist best known for his text-based paintings. Bochner’s popular thesaurus painting series consists of lists of synonyms displayed in rainbow-colored palettes, often featuring a single word repeated in painterly capital letters, as seen in his seminal piece Blah, Blah, Blah (2008). “My feeling was that there were ways of extending, or re-inventing visual experience, but that it was very important that it remain visual,” he reflected on introducing text into his work. “The viewer should enter the idea through a visual or phenomenological experience rather than simply reading it.” Born in 1940 in Pittsburgh, PA, he earned his BFA from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1962. Travelling to New York in 1964, Bochner began working as a guard at the Jewish Museum and settled in the city. Like Eva Hesse, Robert Smithson, and Donald Judd, Bochner experimented with ideas that broke away from the dominate Abstract Expressionism of the early 1960s and developed an ongoing commitment to semiotic representation. His influential critical and theoretical essays on art have figured as a central component to his oeuvre. The artist continues to live and work in New York, NY. Bochner’s works are included in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others.

Mel Bochner Artworks

Mel Bochner (851 results)
SCOUNDREL, 2010

Mel Bochner

SCOUNDREL, 2010

Sale Date: January 30, 2014

Auction Closed

BLAH BLAH BLAH, 2009

Mel Bochner

BLAH BLAH BLAH, 2009

Sale Date: January 30, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled (from the 4 x 4 portfolio), 1991

Mel Bochner

Untitled (from the 4 x 4 portfolio), 1991

Sale Date: January 29, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled from Couples portfolio, 1994

Mel Bochner

Untitled from Couples portfolio, 1994

Sale Date: January 12, 2014

Auction Closed

Untitled (Cubes)

Mel Bochner

Untitled (Cubes)

Sale Date: January 12, 2014

Auction Closed

Superficial, 2007

Mel Bochner

Superficial, 2007

Sale Date: November 14, 2013

Auction Closed

Obscene, 2006

Mel Bochner

Obscene, 2006

Sale Date: November 13, 2013

Auction Closed

Vulgar, 2010

Mel Bochner

Vulgar, 2010

Sale Date: November 5, 2013

Auction Closed

Third small quartet (in 4 parts), 1988

Mel Bochner

Third small quartet (in 4 parts), 1988

Sale Date: September 25, 2013

Auction Closed

Quarry, 1983

Mel Bochner

Quarry, 1983

Sale Date: September 25, 2013

Auction Closed

Nothing, 2006

Mel Bochner

Nothing, 2006

Sale Date: September 26, 2013

Auction Closed

Superficial 2, 2008

Mel Bochner

Superficial 2, 2008

Sale Date: September 26, 2013

Auction Closed

Strong Language (portfolio of 6), 2007

Mel Bochner

Strong Language (portfolio of 6), 2007

Sale Date: September 26, 2013

Auction Closed

Untitled (Cubes), 1989

Mel Bochner

Untitled (Cubes), 1989

Sale Date: September 20, 2013

Auction Closed

White Island, 1985

Mel Bochner

White Island, 1985

Sale Date: September 20, 2013

Auction Closed

Blah blah blah, 2009

Mel Bochner

Blah blah blah, 2009

Sale Date: June 25, 2013

Auction Closed

Go away, 2010

Mel Bochner

Go away, 2010

Sale Date: March 19, 2013

Auction Closed

Blah Blah Blah + Background Noise..., 2012

Mel Bochner

Blah Blah Blah + Background Noise..., 2012

Sale Date: March 28, 2013

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1989

Mel Bochner

Ohne Titel, 1989

Sale Date: March 23, 2013

Auction Closed

A word square for Jenny Licht, 1971

Mel Bochner

A word square for Jenny Licht, 1971

Sale Date: March 12, 2013

Auction Closed

Money, 2005

Mel Bochner

Money, 2005

Sale Date: March 8, 2013

Auction Closed

Floating world (set of 5), 1990

Mel Bochner

Floating world (set of 5), 1990

Sale Date: November 26, 2012

Auction Closed

Blah Blah Blah + Background Noise, 2012

Mel Bochner

Blah Blah Blah + Background Noise, 2012

Sale Date: December 4, 2012

Auction Closed

Actual size (Hand), 1968

Mel Bochner

Actual size (Hand), 1968

Sale Date: December 12, 2012

Auction Closed