Philip Taaffe

(American, born 1955)

Philip Taaffe is a contemporary American artist best known for his process-based abstractions. Melding iconography, design, art-historical motifs, and personal experience, he creates densely patterned works. “Taaffe’s paintings are built in complex layers, both technical and historical. The more one knows about his process, the more stupefying are the final results,” the poet Vincent Katz said of his work. “Each painting is an amalgam of different techniques and media—oil paint transferred from cardboard forms, acrylic stains, oil-based prints from linoleum blocks, scraping, scouring, photo-based silkscreen prints, collaged paper elements, and most recently, spooned acrylic swirls, and intricately cut and applied sheets of gold leaf.” Taaffe's practice revolves around the appropriation of works both by well-known artists, including Barnett Newman and Bridget Riley, and designs by anonymous artisans. Born in 1955 in Elizabeth, NJ, he studied at the Cooper Union, receiving his BFA in 1977. The artist’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions worldwide, including at Luhring Augustine in Brooklyn, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris, and numerous others. Taaffe currently lives and works between New York, NY and West Cornwall, CT. His works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Reina Sofia in Madrid.

Philip Taaffe Artworks

Philip Taaffe (451 results)
Untitled (C. Shaw/Spirals), 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled (C. Shaw/Spirals), 1987

Sale Date: December 17, 2010

Auction Closed

Utan titel, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Utan titel, 1988

Sale Date: November 16, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2002

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 2002

Sale Date: November 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Smaller, singular fish (Balistes vetula), 1997

Philip Taaffe

Smaller, singular fish (Balistes vetula), 1997

Sale Date: November 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Pyrula/mussels, 1997

Philip Taaffe

Pyrula/mussels, 1997

Sale Date: November 9, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1995

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1995

Sale Date: September 15, 2010

Auction Closed

Extended eight point circular, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Extended eight point circular, 1990

Sale Date: September 27, 2010

Auction Closed

Double acrosticum no.5, 1997

Philip Taaffe

Double acrosticum no.5, 1997

Sale Date: September 22, 2010

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1995

Philip Taaffe

Sans titre, 1995

Sale Date: June 28, 2010

Auction Closed

Sigiri mass, 1997–1998

Philip Taaffe

Sigiri mass, 1997–1998

Sale Date: June 29, 2010

Auction Closed

Great performers at Lincoln Center, 1999

Philip Taaffe

Great performers at Lincoln Center, 1999

Sale Date: June 8, 2010

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel

Philip Taaffe

Ohne Titel

Sale Date: June 5, 2010

Auction Closed

Nocturne, 1995–1996

Philip Taaffe

Nocturne, 1995–1996

Sale Date: May 12, 2010

Auction Closed

Tsuba colony, 1994–1995

Philip Taaffe

Tsuba colony, 1994–1995

Sale Date: May 12, 2010

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 1998

Philip Taaffe

Sans titre, 1998

Sale Date: April 13, 2010

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1985

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1985

Sale Date: March 11, 2010

Auction Closed

Senza titolo, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Senza titolo, 1988

Sale Date: December 16, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1989

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1989

Sale Date: December 12, 2009

Auction Closed

Composition, 1995

Philip Taaffe

Composition, 1995

Sale Date: November 18, 2009

Auction Closed

Flaming bunny, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Flaming bunny, 1986

Sale Date: November 25, 2009

Auction Closed

Fear, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Fear, 1988

Sale Date: November 25, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: November 13, 2009

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: November 13, 2009

Auction Closed

Extended eight point circular monotype, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Extended eight point circular monotype, 1990

Sale Date: September 24, 2009

Auction Closed