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)
Sans titre, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Sans titre, 1987

Sale Date: June 28, 2007

Auction Closed

Yellow, grey, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Yellow, grey, 1986

Sale Date: June 22, 2007

Auction Closed

Sans titre, 2002

Philip Taaffe

Sans titre, 2002

Sale Date: June 6, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2004

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 2004

Sale Date: May 18, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: May 18, 2007

Auction Closed

Capella, 1991

Philip Taaffe

Capella, 1991

Sale Date: May 17, 2007

Auction Closed

Family totem, 2007

Philip Taaffe

Family totem, 2007

Sale Date: April 23, 2007

Auction Closed

Bahia Baghdad, 1989

Philip Taaffe

Bahia Baghdad, 1989

Sale Date: February 26, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled - Red forms on chartreuse ground, 1991–1993

Philip Taaffe

Untitled - Red forms on chartreuse ground, 1991–1993

Sale Date: February 28, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1988

Sale Date: February 9, 2007

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1990

Sale Date: November 16, 2006

Auction Closed

Bizerte, 1991

Philip Taaffe

Bizerte, 1991

Sale Date: November 15, 2006

Auction Closed

Entrance with palms, 1996

Philip Taaffe

Entrance with palms, 1996

Sale Date: November 15, 2006

Auction Closed

Drawing from mosaic, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Drawing from mosaic, 1988

Sale Date: October 16, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2004

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 2004

Sale Date: June 23, 2006

Auction Closed

Moments, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Moments, 1990

Sale Date: May 17, 2006

Auction Closed

Portal, 1994–1995

Philip Taaffe

Portal, 1994–1995

Sale Date: May 10, 2006

Auction Closed

Shield, 1984

Philip Taaffe

Shield, 1984

Sale Date: March 14, 2006

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1988

Sale Date: March 16, 2006

Auction Closed

Figure with excavated crescents, 1995–1996

Philip Taaffe

Figure with excavated crescents, 1995–1996

Sale Date: November 10, 2005

Auction Closed

Nocturne, 1995–1996

Philip Taaffe

Nocturne, 1995–1996

Sale Date: November 10, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: November 10, 2005

Auction Closed

Ginostra flowers, 1993

Philip Taaffe

Ginostra flowers, 1993

Sale Date: November 10, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1990

Sale Date: September 28, 2005

Auction Closed