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John Wesley Biography
John Wesley was an American painter, born on November 25, 1928, in Los Angeles, California. He is known for his distinctive and idiosyncratic figurative works that blend elements of eros and humor, rendered in a precise, hard-edged, and deadpan style. Throughout his career, Wesley's art remained true to artistic premises that he established in the 1960s, which included a comic-strip style of flat shapes, delicate black outlines, a limited matte palette of saturated colors, and elegant, pared-down compositions.
Wesley's characteristic subjects were diverse and often included cavorting nymphs, nudes, infants, animals, pastoral and historical scenes, as well as 1950s comic strip characters. These were placed in humorously blasphemous, ambiguous scenarios of forbidden desire, rage, or despair. His work was initially categorized as Pop art due to his appropriation of the visual language and, at times, iconography of popular culture. However, later critics considered him an art outsider whose work eluded categorization, noting his psychological exploration of a largely male American unconscious, formal affinities with abstraction, and wide-ranging art-historical borrowings.
Artforum's Jenifer Borum described Wesley's work as combining "a Pop vocabulary, a refined Minimal sensibility, and a surrealistic proclivity for uncanny juxtapositions," while critic Dave Hickey likened him to an eighteenth-century Rococo artist. His work has been exhibited at prestigious institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA PS1, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Portikus in Frankfurt, and the Chinati Foundation, among others. His art is part of public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and others.
Wesley's personal life was as colorful as his art. He married his first wife, Alice Richter, in 1947, with whom he had two children, Christine Knox and Ner Wesley. After their divorce, he married the minimalist painter Jo Baer in 1959 and moved with her from Los Angeles to New York. This marriage also ended in divorce in 1970, and the following year he married novelist Hannah Green, with whom he remained until her death in 1996. The playwright and painter Patricia Broderick was his partner for the last six years of her life. Wesley passed away at his home in Manhattan, on February 10, 2022, at the age of 93.
Wesley's work is characterized by expanses of flesh against blue skies, depicting men and women in tight close-ups of heads, necks, shoulders, and hands, suggesting intense moments, memories, or daydreams of intimacy. His art reflects a new level of tenderness and vulnerability, as noted by critic David Pagel.
The John Wesley Gallery at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, was envisioned by Donald Judd and inaugurated in October 2004. It features a concentrated retrospective of Wesley’s paintings from the past four decades. The collection, which occasionally rotates, includes works that span from 1963 to the present, showcasing Wesley's singular style that incorporates a limited color palette, bold graphic clarity, and sly humor often tinged with eroticism.
Major exhibitions of Wesley's work include "John Wesley" at the Fondazione Prada in Venice, Italy (2009); "The Bumsteads" at Fredericks & Freiser in New York (2006–07); "John Wesley: Works on Paper since 1960" at Museum Haus Lange in Krefeld and Kunsthalle Nürnberg in Germany (2005–06); "Don’t Eat My Eagle: Paintings from the 1960’s" at Fredericks & Freiser in New York (2005); "John Wesley Paintings 1961–2000" at MoMA/P.S.1 in New York (2001); and "John Wesley: Paintings, Gemalde, Schilderijen, 1963" at Portikus in Frankfurt, Germany, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam (1993–1992).
John Wesley's contributions to the art world are significant, and his unique vision continues to influence contemporary artists and captivate audiences with its wit, charm, and distinctive style.
John Wesley Quotes and Sales
of Works
Ponti Art Gallery selects and deals with paintings by the
artist. Upon request, we provide free estimates and
evaluations, communicate prices, quotations, and current
market values.
If you are interested in BUYING or SELLING works by the
artist, contact us immediately.
If you wish to sell or receive an evaluation of the
works:
Send us a frontal photo of the painting, one of the back,
and one of the signature. Also, indicate the dimensions of
the work. Inform us about the purchase origin of the work
and any kind of available documentation (purchase
receipts, certificates of authenticity, publications). One
of our operators will respond to you on the same day. We
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professionalism.
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