Mary Boone Gallery, New York
Vera G. List, New York
Sotheby's, New York, Contemporary Art Day Sale, November 13, 2003, lot 149
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner
New York, Mary Boone Gallery, Ross Bleckner, February 7 - 28, 1987
Ridgefield, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Post-Abstract Abstraction, May 31 - September 6, 1987
Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum, Currents 14: Ross Bleckner, March 17 - May 21, 1989, then traveled to Houston, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (July 29 - September 24, 1989), Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art (November 11, 1989 - January 14, 1990), Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario (February 9 - April 1, 1990), Saskatoon, Mendel Art Gallery and Museum (April 20 - June 3, 1990)
Providence, David Winton Bell Gallery, List Art Center, Brown University, Reprise: The Vera G. List Collection, A Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, October - November 1991
Ross Bleckner, exh. cat., Mary Boone Gallery, New York, 1987, n.p. (illustrated)
A. Rankin, "Ross Bleckner", Bomb, April, 1987, p. 27 (illustrated)
G. Mantegna, "The Ellipse of Reality, Ross Bleckner", Tema Celeste, May, 1987, p. 36 (illustrated)
P. Steir, "Where the Birds Fly, What the Lines Whisper", ArtForum, May, 1987, p. 109 (illustrated)
S. Caley, "Ross Bleckner", Flash Art, May, 1987, p. 86 (illustrated)
S. Morgan, "Strange Days", Artscribe, March, 1988, p. 49 (illustrated)
C. Smith, "Ross Bleckner", Splash, April, 1988, p. 41 (illustrated)
M. Rantanen, "Minulle Maalaus Aina Kuvastaa Vastakohtian", Taide, May, 1988, p. 32 (illustrated)
T. Collins, R. Milaazzo, "Ross Bleckner", Galleries Magazine, October, 1988, p. 120 (illustrated)
R. Storr, "Ross Bleckner-Crepuscules du Neon", Art Press, December, 1988, p. 41 (illustrated)
Currents 14: Ross Bleckner, exh. cat., Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, 1989, cat. no. 9, p. 24 (illustrated)
D. Bacigalupi, "Ross Bleckner", Contemporanea, December, 1989, p. 31 (illustrated)
Reprise: The Vera G. List Collection, A Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, exh. cat., David Winton Bell Gallery, Providence, 1991, p. 15 (illustrated)
D. Wheeler, Art Since Mid-Century: 1945 to the Present, The Vendome Press: New York, 1991, p. 331 (illustrated)
J. Napack, "The Man Who Wanted to be Loved", New York, February 20, 1995, p. 51 (illustrated)
Ross Blecker, exh. cat., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1995, p. 29 (illustrated)
American • 1949
Ross Bleckner's large-scale, almost-cosmic abstract paintings came to define a certain aesthetic era in New York in the 1980s and '90s. As much known for his celebrity friendships and Sex and the City references to his long-time relationship with gallerist Mary Boone, Bleckner is somewhat of a star, especially as the youngest artist to receive a solo retrospective at the Guggenheim at the age of 46.
His circular dot paintings, which serve as both activism and tribute to the disastrous impact of the AIDS empidemic on New York's gay community, are some of his most buzzed-about and recognizable works still today. However, his heydey was hardly just the '90s—with international gallery exhibitions yearly and a steady, accessible market that has held its value; in 2016, Artnet described Bleckner as an "'80s Art World 'It' Boy Having a New York Moment" when he had six shows running concurrently.
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