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Current Exhibitions

Paintings of Dorothy Hood
March 18 - May 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Sir Winston Churchill: Making Art, Making History
February 20 - May 31, 2024
Virtual
Ansel Adams: Affirmation of Life
December 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Picasso: Beyond the Canvas
October 4, 2023 - April 30, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
No Other Land: A Century of American Landscapes
September 21, 2023 - March 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Art of the American West: A Prominent Collection
August 24, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Alexander Calder: Shaping a Primary Universe
August 23, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol: All is Pretty
August 17, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Jackson Hole, WY
Georgia O’Keeffe and Ansel Adams: Modern Art, Modern Friendship
July 13, 2023 - April 30, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Florals for Spring, Groundbreaking
May 8, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
First Circle: Circles in Art
February 14, 2023 - May 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Your Heart’s Blood: Intersections of Art and Literature
September 12, 2022 - March 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Meeting Life: N.C. Wyeth and the MetLife Murals
July 18, 2022 - March 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA
Andy Warhol Polaroids: Wicked Wonders
December 13, 2021 - March 31, 2024
Palm Desert, CA

Archived Exhibitions

2024

Discovering Creativity: American Art Masters
January 10 - March 17, 2024
Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens - West Palm Beach, FL

2023

Figurative Masters of the Americas
January 4 - February 12, 2023
Palm Desert, CA

2022

Abstract Expressionism: Transcending the Radical
January 12, 2022 - January 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Georgia O’Keeffe and Marsden Hartley: Modern Minds
February 1, 2022 - February 28, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
My Own Skin: Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera
June 16 - December 31, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
N.C. Wyeth: A Decade of Painting
September 29, 2022 - March 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA

2021

It Was Acceptable in the 80s
April 27, 2021 - August 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA
Elaine and Willem de Kooning: Painting in the Light
August 3, 2021 - January 31, 2022
Palm Desert, CA
James Rosenquist: Potent Pop
June 7, 2021 - January 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA

2019

Paul Jenkins: Coloring the Phenomenal
December 27, 2019 - March 31, 2023
Palm Desert, CA

2018

N.C. Wyeth: Paintings and Illustrations
February 1 - May 31, 2018
Palm Desert, CA
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
March 21 - May 30, 2018
Palm Desert, CA
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
June 1 - July 27, 2018
San Francisco, CA
The Paintings of Sir Winston Churchill
August 1 - September 16, 2018
Jackson Hole, WY
de Kooning x de Kooning
November 8, 2018 - February 28, 2019
New York, NY
“I make sure that my pictures are not too erotic and that they always have a trace of humor. I make sure they are ‘in good taste.’ Either you understand it or not.” – Mel Ramos

History

Mel Ramos is best known for his paintings of superheroes and female nudes juxtaposed with pop culture imagery. Many of the subjects in his paintings emerge from iconic brands or cultural touchstones like Chiquita bananas, M&M bags, or Snickers. In these works, visual delight is combined with suggested edible and commercial indulgence.

Like his contemporaries, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, Ramos appropriates imagery from mass media and pop culture to produce ironic distillations of advertisement. Ramos and his fellow Pop artists provided a visual language for audiences to understand and experience the proliferation of commercial images that exploded in post-war America, and for today’s viewers, a way to interpret the current abundance of images provided by a digital world. However, Ramos’s paintings showcase an appreciation and understanding of Old Masters in their combination with sensual female nudes and realism. In his later works, Ramos even began using computers to assist him in his creative process, using the technology to help him create compositions, from which he then painted.

These works conflate optical and savory fantasies, tempting the viewer to understand the connection between visual and gustatory consumption. Weaving through this is the understanding that there is no barrier, no hierarchy of subject matter that normally exists within art. As Ramos noted, “Comic books, girlie magazines, magazine ads, billboards are all art to me. The whole point of my art is that art grows out of an art.” The paintings sit at the intersection of humor, satire, wit, sensuality, and earnestness.

“I try to work every day, even when I’m not motivated. Ritual is very important to me.” – Mel Ramos

Top Results at Auction

Oil on canvas, 60 x 50 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: 22 May 2012.

"A.C. Annie" (1971) sold for $1,690,566 USD.

Oil on canvas, 60 x 50 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: 22 May 2012.
Oil on canvas, 59.8 x 44.1 in. Sold at Christie’s London: 15 October 2006.

"Peek-a-boo Raven #2" (1964) sold for $1,012,057 USD.

Oil on canvas, 59.8 x 44.1 in. Sold at Christie’s London: 15 October 2006.
Acrylic on canvas, 44.5 x 32 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: 21 June 2007.

"Peek-a-boo, platinum #2" (1964) sold for $887,826 USD.

Acrylic on canvas, 44.5 x 32 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: 21 June 2007.

Comparable Paintings Sold at Auction

Oil on linen, 70 x 50 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: 13 February 2013.

“Butterfinger” (1995) sold for $505,439 USD.

Oil on linen, 70 x 50 in. Sold at Sotheby’s London: 13 February 2013.
  • Similar subject with vivid color and strong wall presence
  • Larger example of comparable quality
  • Created in 1995, a comparable later period
Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 03 March 2016.

“Red Hots Rita” (2012) sold for $310,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 48 x 60 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 03 March 2016.
  • A comparable nude with a Pop Art style
  • A 2012 work, also from this later period
Oil on canvas, 40 x 74 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 15 May 2013.

“Hav-a-Havana #6” (2000) sold for $305,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 40 x 74 in. Sold at Sotheby’s New York: 15 May 2013.
  • A larger nude that also retains the artist’s signature style
  • A 2000 work, also from this later period
Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Sold at Phillips New York: 17 May 2007.

“Miss Martini #2” (2004) sold for $300,000 USD.

Oil on canvas, 36 x 24 in. Sold at Phillips New York: 17 May 2007.
  • A vertical format nude with a comparable subject and size
  • A 2004 work, also from this later period
  • Sold for $300k 15 years ago

Paintings in Museum Collections

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

“Miss Grapefruit Festival” (1964), oil on canvas, 40 x 34 in.

The Crocker Museum, Sacramento, California

“The Atom” (1962), oil on canvas, 50 x 44 in.

The Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri

“The Fonda Image” (1970), acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 in.
“Comic books, girlie magazines, magazine ads, billboards are all art to me. The whole point of my art is that art grows out of an art.” – Mel Ramos

Additional Resources

The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California

See Mel Ramos at work in his studio in this interview by the Crocker Art Museum.

The Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria

Explore similar works by Ramos in his 2011 solo exhibition at the Albertina Museum in Vienna.

The New York Times

Ramos passed away in 2018. Revisit the highlights of his life and work in the New York Times.

Inquire

Inquire - Art Single

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