

I do think a lot of dumb humor is incredibly profound at the same time. An antisophistication can be kind of refreshing, I think.
John Baldessari
I do think a lot of dumb humor is incredibly profound at the same time. An antisophistication can be kind of refreshing, I think.
John Baldessari
John Baldessari b. 1931
Renowned conceptual artist John Baldessari came of age in California, studying art education and art history between San Diego State College and the University of California, Berkeley. Structures of pedagogy and art historical precedent would continue to influence his work even as he made a radical split from gestural painting and moved into experimentation with a wide variety of media and modes. In 1970, Baldessari ceremoniously marked this passage with “The Cremation Project,” in which he burnt the majority of his paintings created before 1966 and then baked the ashes into cookies.
Though Baldessari consistently defied categorization, much of his work addressed the uneasy relationship between image and word. "I've often thought of myself as a frustrated writer," John Baldessari once confessed. "I consider a word and an image of equal weight, and a lot of my work comes out of that kind of thinking." He became perhaps best known for his tongue-in-cheek photomontages, which brought sardonic tidbits of punny text into conversation with found and reappropriated images. Although textual elements gradually vanished from Baldessari's work beginning in the early 1970s, the essential, underlying questions that drove his earlier work remained.
Beyond his art practice, Baldessari had a considerable influence on contemporary art through his role as an educator. He taught at CalArts from 1970 to 1988 and at the University of California at Los Angeles from 1996 to 2007, influencing an upcoming generation that include Mike Kelley, Richard Prince, and David Salle. Baldessari’s works are included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and many others.
Upcoming Lots John Baldessari
Auction Results John Baldessari
John Baldessari
Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts)
estimate: $6,000–9,000
result $25,000
John Baldessari
Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line
estimate: $6,000–9,000
result $12,500
John Baldessari
Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line
estimate: $6,000–9,000
result $11,250
John Baldessari
Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts)
estimate: $6,000–9,000
result $10,000
John Baldessari
Palm Trees and Building (with Vikings) from the Overlap series
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result $8,750
John Baldessari
Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts)
estimate: $3,000–5,000
result $7,500
John Baldessari
Four signed and numbered sheets (2623 Third Street, Santa Monica)
estimate: $4,000–6,000
result $5,000
John Baldessari
Raised Eyebrows/Furrowed Foreheads (Red, White, and Blue) from the Artists for Obama portfolio
estimate: $1,500–2,500
result $3,000
John Baldessari
Domestic Smoke: Desire, Power, Color Intervals, and Genie (With Two Boxed Asides)
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result $2,500
John Baldessari
Raised Eyebrows/Furrowed Foreheads: Figure with Globe
estimate: $1,000–1,500
result $2,500
John Baldessari
Double Motorcyclists and Landscape (Icelandic) (from the Overlap Series)
estimate: $2,000–3,000
result $2,375
John Baldessari
Woman with Pillow (from the BAM Photography Portfolio II)
estimate: $1,500–2,500
result $2,080
John Baldessari
Double Motorcyclists and Landscape (Icelandic) (from the Overlap Series)
estimate: $1,500–2,500
result $1,820
John Baldessari
Panel #2 (from Two Horses with Riders (with Blue Parrot) diptych)
estimate: $1,500–2,500
result $1,250