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 (diptych)

Philip Taaffe

Untitled (diptych)

Sale Date: June 6, 2005

Auction Closed

Green form, 1985–1986

Philip Taaffe

Green form, 1985–1986

Sale Date: June 6, 2005

Auction Closed

Skeletal totem, 1996–1997

Philip Taaffe

Skeletal totem, 1996–1997

Sale Date: May 12, 2005

Auction Closed

Ornamental totem, 2000

Philip Taaffe

Ornamental totem, 2000

Sale Date: May 13, 2005

Auction Closed

Reliquary, 1990–1991

Philip Taaffe

Reliquary, 1990–1991

Sale Date: May 12, 2005

Auction Closed

Spiraloom, 1995–1996

Philip Taaffe

Spiraloom, 1995–1996

Sale Date: May 11, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2000

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 2000

Sale Date: March 15, 2005

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1986

Sale Date: December 13, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: December 13, 2004

Auction Closed

Smaller, singular fish (Balistes vetula), 1997

Philip Taaffe

Smaller, singular fish (Balistes vetula), 1997

Sale Date: November 12, 2004

Auction Closed

Long deep-sea toothy fish (Cauliodus sloani), 1997

Philip Taaffe

Long deep-sea toothy fish (Cauliodus sloani), 1997

Sale Date: November 12, 2004

Auction Closed

Starfish (Asterias murrayi), 1997

Philip Taaffe

Starfish (Asterias murrayi), 1997

Sale Date: November 12, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1997

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1997

Sale Date: November 12, 2004

Auction Closed

Biolumen, 2000

Philip Taaffe

Biolumen, 2000

Sale Date: November 10, 2004

Auction Closed

Lineament monotype, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Lineament monotype, 1990

Sale Date: September 28, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled

Philip Taaffe

Untitled

Sale Date: June 30, 2004

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1990–1990

Philip Taaffe

Ohne Titel, 1990–1990

Sale Date: June 4, 2004

Auction Closed

Double cascade, 2002–2002

Philip Taaffe

Double cascade, 2002–2002

Sale Date: May 24, 2004

Auction Closed

Bizerte, 1991–1991

Philip Taaffe

Bizerte, 1991–1991

Sale Date: May 14, 2004

Auction Closed

Via Toledo, 1991–1991

Philip Taaffe

Via Toledo, 1991–1991

Sale Date: May 14, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1986–1986

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1986–1986

Sale Date: May 14, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987–1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987–1987

Sale Date: May 14, 2004

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2002–2002

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 2002–2002

Sale Date: December 10, 2003

Auction Closed

Untitled, 2002–2002

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 2002–2002

Sale Date: November 23, 2003

Auction Closed