4000
Santa Barbara
Billy Al Bengston (1934-2022), Untitled, 1974
"Untitled" from 1974 is signed and dated 'Bengston 1974'. Billy Al Bengton is best known for work he created that reflected California's "Kustom" car and motorcycle culture in the 1960s. Silhouettes of iris flowers also figure prominently in Bengston's paintings. This graphite and watercolor on paper is matted and framed under glass. Good Condition. Provenance: Karl Borstein Gallery, Santa Monica, 1975. Framed size H 10 1/2" x W 10 1/2"
Bengston became a fixture of the Ferus Gallery in Venice, CA in the late 1950s and was among a cohort of artists that include Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, Kenneth Price, Ed Moses, and Robert Irwin. While Bengston was known for his abstract, heavily lacquered paintings, sometimes on industrial surfaces, he refused to be pinned down by a style or movement. In the 1970s, he produced memorable watercolors after visits to Mexico and Hawaii. For all his success, Mr. Bengston always maintained a wry view of success, and of the commercialization of the art world in general.* His works can be found in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, among others. *NYTimes, 10/22/22