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Robert Cenedella

(American, born 1940)

grateful dead 1965-forever by robert cenedella

Robert Cenedella

Grateful Dead 1965-Forever, 2021

2,500 USD

Biography

Timeline

Robert Cenedella was born in Milford, Mass., in 1940. He received his formal education from the High School of Music and Art in New York and The Art Students League of New York where he studied under the late German satirical painter George Grosz. In 1988, he inherited the George Grosz chair at The League when he was invited to teach his Life Drawing Class and a Painting Workshop.
Following a definite tradition in Art, and like Hogarth, Daumier and Grosz before him, R. Cenedella is a modern master of pictorial satire, humor and fantasy who has devoted his Art to chronicling the changing rituals and myths of society in Contemporary America.
In the last 20 years, Mr. Cenedella has amassed considerable international praise as well as inclusion in numerous public and private collections. His commissions include works for the famed Bacardi Int’l and ABSOLUT Vodka, a theater piece for Tony Randall and 2 murals of historical significance for the glamorous Le Cirque restaurant in Manhattan and Mexico City.
In September 1985, he exhibited, at the Bagatelle in Paris, a show sponsored by Mr. Jacques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris. In 1988, he held a one-man show at Saatchi & Saatchi’s headquarters in NY, and in 1990, he was included in the prestigious Amnesty International. In December 1994, a major retrospective at the Galerie Am Scheunenviertel in Berlin, Germany, was a tribute to his former mentor and ran concurrently with the George Grosz Centennial Exhibition at the Berlin Nationale Galerie. That same year, Cenedella’s concept of selling shares of stock in his painting 2001- A Stock Odyssey was disclosed in a New York Times feature article. The idea prompted Leo Castelli, the SoHo gallery owner, who once compared the art boom of the 1980’s to the rise of junk bonds, to call the experiment “a conceptual work of art.” From 1995 to 2000, Robert Cenedella exhibited and lectured around the country. From March to May 2003, a full retrospective of the artist’s political works was sponsored by The Nation Institute. The exhibit The Nation Hangs Cenedella was held at the New York executive offices of The Nation magazine and covered subjects ranging from the Selma riots to the preemptive war on Iraq. It was the first exhibition given an American artist by The Nation.
Robert Cenedella lives and maintains a studio in New York City where he paints full time. His art and life are currently the subjects of a book and a documentary film in the making. He was also featured in Norbert Bunge’s award-winning documentary film George Grosz in America: Life’s Fine in the Labyrinth presented at the Berlin Film Festival in 1995.

Exhibitions

2007
Robert Cenedella and Ken Riesdorff: BARNS Real and Imagined, An Exhibition by two Friends Bob & Ken. The Broome Street Bar Soho NY 35TH Anniversary, 363 West Broadway, New York, NY
War & Piece II: The-insur-gence, by Liz & Robert Cenedella. The Broome Street Gallery, New York, NY
2006
Robert Cenedella: AUSVERKAUF, Paintings - Drawings - Prints, 1962-2006. Otto Nagel Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
2005
The American Artist as Satirist, Selected Work: 1960-2005: Clifford Art Gallery, Colgate University
2004
(Le Cirque 2000 Palace Hotel) Robert Cenedella “EASEL PAINTING” March 11, 2005 New York, NY (Solo)
2003
The Nation Institute/The Nation magazine New York, NY, 'The Nation Hangs Cenedella' retrospective of the artist’s political works (solo)
2002
New Pacific Studio 'Satire in the City: RCenedella's New York' Berkley, CA (solo)
2001
Dylan Prime, New York, NY (solo)
Galerie Am Scheunenviertel, Berlin, Germany
2000
Galerie Am Scheunenviertel, Berlin, Germany
1999
Aaron Gallery, Chicago, IL
English (US)

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