Nov 12, 2014 - Sale 2365

Sale 2365 - Lot 270

Price Realized: $ 60,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 50,000 - $ 80,000
ROBERT LONGO
Study of the Capitol.

Charcoal and ink on vellum, 2012. 483x605 mm; 19x23 3/4 inches. Signed, titled and dated in pencil, lower margin recto, and inscribed "#3244" in pencil, lower right recto. Ex-collection Metro Gallery, New York.

Longo (born 1953) was a native of Brooklyn and grew up in suburban Long Island. He was enrolled at the University of North Texas for a short time, but left before completing his degree. Longo next studied on a grant at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence, Italy before receiving his BFA from Buffalo State College in 1975. Shortly after, he moved to New York and became immersed in the downtown art scene. Longo remained largely under the radar until his seminal Men in the Cities series of the early 1980s, featuring large charcoal drawings of contorted men and women clad in business suits (see lot 266).

Longo has dabbled in a diverse array of media over the course of his venerable 30 year career. While his method was multidisciplinary throughout the 80s, often combining elements of drawing, sculpture, cinema and performance art, Longo's oeuvre consists mainly of monumental charcoal drawings done in a hyperrealist style. This medium allows him to create the strong lines and rich chiaroscuro that help bring his drawings to life. His subject matter is varied, ranging from nature to seemingly banal objects to political imagery. The current drawing is one of a number of studies done for his colossal Capitol, 2013, a seven-panel charcoal drawing of the United States Capitol.