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)
Project for Planthouse, 2014

Philip Taaffe

Project for Planthouse, 2014

Sale Date: July 19, 2018

Auction Closed

Cumae, 2009

Philip Taaffe

Cumae, 2009

Sale Date: July 18, 2018

Auction Closed

Red, Black, Yellow, White, 1990-1998, 1990–1998

Philip Taaffe

Red, Black, Yellow, White, 1990-1998, 1990–1998

Sale Date: June 14, 2018

Auction Closed

UNTITLED, 2007

Philip Taaffe

UNTITLED, 2007

Sale Date: June 2, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled (Lakes), 1995

Philip Taaffe

Untitled (Lakes), 1995

Sale Date: May 23, 2018

Auction Closed

Three works: Rangavalli, 1991

Philip Taaffe

Three works: Rangavalli, 1991

Sale Date: May 11, 2018

Auction Closed

Zone of the Straits, 1991

Philip Taaffe

Zone of the Straits, 1991

Sale Date: April 11, 2018

Auction Closed

Flowers, 1995

Philip Taaffe

Flowers, 1995

Sale Date: March 13, 2018

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1988

Sale Date: December 14, 2017

Auction Closed

Dryadic Figures, 2004–2006

Philip Taaffe

Dryadic Figures, 2004–2006

Sale Date: November 16, 2017

Auction Closed

Sphenopsida, 1998–1999

Philip Taaffe

Sphenopsida, 1998–1999

Sale Date: November 16, 2017

Auction Closed

Lineament Monotypes, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Lineament Monotypes, 1990

Sale Date: November 2, 2017

Auction Closed

Cumae, 2009

Philip Taaffe

Cumae, 2009

Sale Date: September 28, 2017

Auction Closed

Fern, 1998

Philip Taaffe

Fern, 1998

Sale Date: September 19, 2017

Auction Closed

Abstract Painting, 1988

Philip Taaffe

Abstract Painting, 1988

Sale Date: June 14, 2017

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1994

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1994

Sale Date: June 1, 2017

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1993

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1993

Sale Date: June 7, 2017

Auction Closed

Bad Seed, 1996

Philip Taaffe

Bad Seed, 1996

Sale Date: May 18, 2017

Auction Closed

Composition with Gemstones, 2001

Philip Taaffe

Composition with Gemstones, 2001

Sale Date: May 17, 2017

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1991–2000

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1991–2000

Sale Date: May 16, 2017

Auction Closed

Untitled, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Untitled, 1990

Sale Date: April 5, 2017

Auction Closed

Forest Lantern, 1981–1982

Philip Taaffe

Forest Lantern, 1981–1982

Sale Date: April 5, 2017

Auction Closed

Study for Easter Choir, 1990

Philip Taaffe

Study for Easter Choir, 1990

Sale Date: April 5, 2017

Auction Closed

Large Cairene Window, 2009–2010

Philip Taaffe

Large Cairene Window, 2009–2010

Sale Date: March 10, 2017

Auction Closed