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, 1995

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1995

Sale Date: May 7, 1996

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1988

Sale Date: February 23, 1996

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1991–1993

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1991–1993

Sale Date: November 16, 1995

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1986

Sale Date: October 19, 1995

Auction Closed

Ohne Titel, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Ohne Titel, 1986

Sale Date: March 22, 1995

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: February 21, 1995

Auction Closed

Abstract painting, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Abstract painting, 1988

Sale Date: November 2, 1994

Auction Closed

THERE NOW, 1985

Philip Taaffe

THERE NOW, 1985

Sale Date: November 2, 1994

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1991–1992

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1991–1992

Sale Date: November 2, 1994

Auction Closed

(CHRISTUS), FIRE-EATER, 1990

Philip Taaffe

(CHRISTUS), FIRE-EATER, 1990

Sale Date: May 4, 1994

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1988

Sale Date: February 25, 1994

Auction Closed

THERE NOW, 1985

Philip Taaffe

THERE NOW, 1985

Sale Date: November 11, 1993

Auction Closed

METAMORPHOSIS (II GATTO D'ORO), 1990

Philip Taaffe

METAMORPHOSIS (II GATTO D'ORO), 1990

Sale Date: November 10, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1984

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1984

Sale Date: November 10, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: November 8, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1986

Sale Date: November 8, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1987

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1987

Sale Date: May 7, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1986

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1986

Sale Date: May 4, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1984

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1984

Sale Date: February 24, 1993

Auction Closed

UNTITLED (SCROLL), 1986

Philip Taaffe

UNTITLED (SCROLL), 1986

Sale Date: February 24, 1993

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1990

Sale Date: February 22, 1993

Auction Closed

PHANTASTICHE GEBETE II, 1987

Philip Taaffe

PHANTASTICHE GEBETE II, 1987

Sale Date: November 19, 1992

Auction Closed

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT, 1985

Philip Taaffe

QUEEN OF THE NIGHT, 1985

Sale Date: November 19, 1992

Auction Closed

Brest, 1985

Philip Taaffe

Brest, 1985

Sale Date: November 19, 1992

Auction Closed