![Untitled, 1969, Polyester resin and fiberglass](https://img.artlogic.net/w_1320,h_1320,c_limit/exhibit-e/57ab21f484184ea8138b4568/06da467d3e811371e2a259c8407f1e50.jpeg)
Untitled, 1969
Polyester resin and fiberglass
Dimensions variable
Born in Syracuse, New York in 1937, Richard Van Buren studied painting and sculpture at San Francisco State University and the National University of Mexico. While still a student, Van Buren began exhibiting his work at San Francisco’s famed Dilexi Gallery alongside artists as diverse as Franz Kline, H.C. Westermann, Ron Nagle, Ed Moses, and Robert Morris. In 1964, Van Buren relocated to New York. From 1967 to 1988, he taught in the Sculpture Department at the School of Visual Arts. In 1988, he began teaching at the Parsons School of Design. He remained at Parsons until September 2001. He now lives and works in Perry, Maine.
Van Buren has consistently tested material constraints and limitations and in doing so questions the definition and direction of sculpture. He impregnates his signature polyester biomorphs with materials as seemingly disparate as dry pigment, costume jewelry, fiberglass, wallpaper paste, and glitter, in order to present forms which simultaneously reject and depend upon our everyday material-driven culture. Through the creation of his amorphous, uncomfortable and inconsistent forms, Van Buren displays a career-long fascination with the relationship between natural/organic forms and man-made/inorganic materials; especially their ability to mimic and feed into one another.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Van Buren had solo exhibitions at many of the most influential and prestigious galleries, including: Bykert Gallery (1967, 1968, 1969, New York), 112 Greene Street (1972, New York), Paula Cooper Gallery (1972, 1975, 1977, New York), and Texas Gallery (1974, 1976, Houston). During this period, his work also figured prominently in many landmark museum exhibitions, such as Primary Structures (1966, The Jewish Museum), A Romantic Minimalism (1967, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia), A Plastic Presence (1970, Milwaukee Art Center, Wisconsin), and Works for New Spaces (1971, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis), among others. In 1977, the City University of New York, Graduate Center mounted a retrospective exhibition of Van Buren’s work.
The artist’s work is featured in the collections of major museums around the world, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Jewish Museum, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the National Gallery, Washington, DC; the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Portland Museum of Art, Maine; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC; the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.
1937
Born: Syracuse, New York
Lives and works in Perry, Maine
EDUCATION
1959–1960
National University of Mexico, Mexico City
Mexico City College
1961–1964
San Francisco State University
TEACHING
1966–1988
Associate Professor, School of Visual Arts, New York
1970
Visiting Artist, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
1984
Visiting Artist, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore
1988–2001
Associate Professor, Parsons School of Design, New York
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1961
New Mission Gallery, San Francisco
1964
Dilexi Gallery, San Francisco
1967
Richard Van Buren, Bykert Gallery, New York, April 22–May 13
1968
Richard Van Buren, Bykert Gallery, New York, March 30–April 25
1969
Richard Van Buren, Bykert Gallery, New York, November 15–December 6
1970
Richard Van Buren, Bykert Gallery, New York, October 3–28
1972
Richard Van Buren, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, May 6–June 1
1973
112 Greene Street, New York
1974
Richard Van Buren: Sculpture, Texas Gallery, Houston, May 4–27
1975
Richard Van Buren, Graduate Center Mall, City University of New York, January 7–30
Richard Van Buren, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, February 8–March 5
1976
Richard Van Buren: Paper—Works, Texas Gallery, Houston, July 6–August 14
1977
Richard Van Buren, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, May 14–June 8
1991
Richard Van Buren: New Sculpture, Jimenez & Algus Gallery, Brooklyn, May 3–26
2002
Richard Van Buren: New Sculpture, Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York, June 1–July 12
Richard Van Buren: Spirit Mold, Grand Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, November 15-–December 21
2003
Richard Van Buren: Spirit Mold, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, October 25–December 21
2010
Richard Van Buren, Tides Institute and Museum of Art, Eastport, Maine, September 5–19
2011
Richard Van Buren: New Sculpture, Gary Snyder Gallery, New York, November 10–December 17
2013–2014
Richard Van Buren: The 1970s, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, November 26, 2013—January 4, 2014
2016
Richard Van Buren: Monet’s Swamp, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, May 19–June 18
2018
Richard Van Buren: Material Witness, South Dakota Art Museum, South Dakota State University, Brookings, January 12–May 20
2019
Richard Van Buren: T Timer, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, September 5–October 12
2023
Richard Van Buren: 1969–70 Revisited, Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, March 11–April 15
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1965
Sculpture from All Directions, World House Galleries, New York, November 3–27
1966
Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors, Jewish Museum, New York, April 27–June 12
Opening Exhibition, Bykert Gallery, New York, September 20–October 15
1967
Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture, 1967, Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Urbana, March 5–April 9
A Romantic Minimalism, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, September 13–October 11
1968
Cool Art: 1967, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, January 7–March 17
1968–1969
1968 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 17, 1968–January 9, 1969
1969
Drawing Exhibition, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, December
1969–1970
A Plastic Presence, Jewish Museum, New York, November 19, 1969–January 4, 1970; Milwaukee Art Center, January 30–March 8, 1970; San Francisco Museum of Art, April 24–May 24, 1970
Art in Process IV, Finch College Museum of Art, Contemporary Wing, New York, December 11, 1969–January 26, 1970
1970
Hanging/Leaning, Leaning/Hanging, Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, February 2–27
Highlights of the 1969–1970 Art Season, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, June 21–September 13
Norfolk 70, Yale University Summer School of Music and Art, Norfolk, Connecticut, June 28–July 14
L’art vivant aux États-Unis, Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul, France, July 16–September 30
1970–1971
1970 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, December 12, 1970–February 7, 1971
1971
Erasable Structures, Visual Arts Gallery, School of Visual Arts, New York, January 25–March 2
Works for New Spaces, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, May 18–July 25
Eight Artists: Lynda Benglis, Sam Gilliam, Ralph Goings, Hans Haacke, Duane Hanson, Sol LeWitt, DeWain Valentine, Richard Van Buren, Milwaukee Art Center, June 19–August 8
Kid Stuff?, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, July 25–September 6
1972
10, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, March 20-–June 4
Critics’ Choice, Sculpture Center, New York, September 26–October 21
1973
Works from the Early Sixties, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, January 20–February 15
Options 73/30: Recent Works of Art, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, September 25–November 11
1974
Painting & Sculpture Today, 1974, Indianapolis Museum of Art, May 22–July 14; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, September 12–October 26
1976
Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, February 14–March 4
1977
Jack Barth, Richard Van Buren, David Deutsch, Richard Jackson, James Reineking, Bell Gallery, List Art Building, Brown University, Providence, February 5–27
Group Show, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, September 10–October 12
1984
Visiting Artists Exhibition II, Meyerhoff Gallery, Fox Building, Maryland Institute, College of Art, February 28–March 20
1987
Dance Sculpture, Art in General, New York, March
1989
Sculpture, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, September 8–October 10
1995
Degrees of Abstraction: From Morris Louis to Robert Mapplethorpe, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, March 11–October 22
1999
Afterimage: Drawing Through Process, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, April 11–August 22
1999–2000
Drawing in the Present Tense, Arnold and Sheila Aronson Gallery, Parsons School of Design, New York, October 13–December 3, 1999; Julian Akus Gallery, Eastern Connecticut State University, Willimantic, Connecticut, January 7–February 27, 2000
2006–2007
High Times, Hard Times: New York Painting, 1967–1975, Weatherspoon Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, August 6–October 15, 2006; American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, Washington, D.C., November 21, 2006–January 21, 2007; National Academy Museum, New York, February 13–April 22, 2007
2009
Soft Sculpture, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, April 24-–July 12
2010
Pastorale, 80 Washington Square East Galleries, New York University, September 21–October 16
2011
Inka Essenhigh & Richard Van Buren: Un/natural Splendor, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockport, August 6–September 25
2015
Invitational Exhibition of Visual Art, American Academy of Art and Letters, New York, March 12–April 12
2015–2016
You Can’t Get There From Here, Portland Museum of Art, Maine, October 8, 2015–January 3, 2016
2016–2017
2016 CMCA Biennial, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, November 4, 2016–January 24, 2017
2017
Three Artists Celebrate the Maine Coast, Crow Town Gallery, Lubec Maine, June 29–July 16
2020–2021
2020 Biennial, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, October 3, 2020–May 2, 2021
2021
13 Artists: A Tribute to Klaus Kertess’ Bykert Gallery 1966-75, David Nolan Gallery, New York, June 3–July 30
2023
Tales of Brave Ulysses: Al Loving, Howardena Pindell, Alan Shields, Richard Van Buren, Garth Greenan Gallery, New York, New York, November 9–December 16
2024
Motherlode: Material and Memory, James Cohan Gallery, New York, New York, June 21–July 26
GIFTED, 201@105 Gallery, New York, New York, July 11–September 1
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York
Art Institute of Chicago
Bennington College, Bennington, Vermont
Jewish Museum, New York
Miami-Dade Art in Public Places
Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Perdue University, Lafayette, Indiana
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Portland Museum of Art, Maine
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
BOOKS AND CATALOGUES
Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art. Cool Art: 1967. Ridgefield, CT: Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 1968.
———. Highlights of the 1969–1970 Art Season. Ridgefield, CT: Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, 1970.
Atkinson, Tracy. A Plastic Presence. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Center, 1969.
Battcock, Gregory, ed. Minimal Art: A Critical Anthology. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1968.
Bell Gallery, List Art Building, Brown University. Jack Barth, Richard Van Buren, David Deutsch, Richard Jackson, James Reineking. Providence: Bell Gallery, List Art Building, Brown University, 1977.
Brentano, Robyn and Mark Savitt, eds. 112 Workshop, 112 Greene Street: History, Artists & Artworks. New York: New York University Press, 1981.
Contemporary Art Society. Painting & Sculpture Today, 1974. Indianapolis: Indianapolis Museum of Art, 1974.
Contemporary Arts Center. Options 73/30: Recent Works of Art. Cincinnati: Contemporary Arts Center, 1973.
Contemporary Arts Museum. 10. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum, 1972.
Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University. Hanging/Leaning, Leaning/Hanging. Hempstead, NY: Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, 1970.
Expo Chicago. Expo Chicago, 13–17 September 2017. Chicago: Expo Chicago, 2017.
Ferris, Alison. You Can’t Get There From Here: 2015 PMA Biennial Catalogue. Portland, ME: Portland Museum of Art, 2015.
Fondation Maeght. L’art vivant aux États-Unis. Paris: Fondation Maeght, 1970.
Gary Snyder Gallery. Richard Van Buren: New Sculpture. New York: Gary Snyder Gallery, 2011.
Hunter, Sam. American Art of the 20th Century. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972.
Jewish Museum. Primary Structures: Younger American and British Sculptors. New York: Jewish Museum, 1966.
Kelly, Peter, et al. eds. Tales of Brave Ulysses: Al Loving, Howardena Pindell, Alan Shields, Richard Van Buren, New York: Garth Greenan Gallery and Van Doren Waxter, 2023.
Kertess, Klaus. Richard Van Buren. Kansas City, MO: Grand Arts, 2002.
Loring, John, David Acton, and Thomas Garver. Jones Road Print Shop and Stable, 1971–1981: A Catalogue Raisonné. Madison, WI: Madison Art Center, 1983.
Massie, Rebecca. The Sydney and Frances Lewis Contemporary Art Fund Collection. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1980.
Milwaukee Art Center. Eight Artists: Lynda Benglis, Sam Gilliam, Ralph Goings, Hans Haacke, Duane Hanson, Sol LeWitt, DeWain Valentine, Richard Van Buren. Milwaukee: Milwaukee Art Center, 1971.
Negroponte, George, Roger Shepherd, and Debra Bricker Balken. Drawing in the Present Tense. New York: Parsons School of Design, 1999.
Prokopoff, Stephen S. A Romantic Minimalism. Philadelphia: Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, 1967.
Reed, Robert and Mary Delahoyd. Norfolk 70. Norfolk, CT: Art Division of the Yale University Summer School of Music and Art, 1970.
School of Visual Arts. School of Visual Arts Fine Arts Faculty. New York: School of Visual Arts, 1982.
Sculpture Center. Critics’ Choice. New York: Sculpture Center, 1972.
Siegel, Katy. High Times, Hard Times: New York Painting, 1967–1975. New York: Independent Curators International, 2006.
Slimane, Hedi. Celine Art Project. Paris: Celine, 2024.
Varian, Elayne H. Art in Process IV. New York: Finch College Museum of Art, Contemporary Wing, 1969.
Walker Art Center. Works for New Spaces. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, 1971.
Weller, Allen S. Contemporary American Painting and Sculpture, 1967. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1967.
Whitney Museum of American Art. 1968 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1968.
———. 1970 Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1970.
PERIODICALS
Bourdon, David. “Fling, Dribble and Drip.” Life 68, no. 7 (1970) 62–67.
Childs, Lucinda. “Notes on Batya Zamir.” Artforum 11, no. 10 (1973): 71–73.
Domingo, Willis. “In the Galleries: Richard Van Buren.” Arts Magazine 45, no. 2 (1970): 63.
Heinemann, Susan. “Richard Van Buren.” Artforum 13, no. 8 (1975): 60–61.
Kurtz, Stephen A. “Reviews and Previews: Richard Van Buren.” Art News 68, no. 4 (1969): 12.
———. “Reviews and Previews: Richard Van Buren.” Art News 68, no. 11 (1970): 12.
Kutner, Janet. “Texas.” Art Gallery 14, no. 6 (1971): 12, 73.
Lippard, Lucy R. “Synthetic Sirens in the Pink Light District.” New York Magazine, May 6, 1968, 46–47.
Livingstone, Lisa. “An Interview with Richard Van Buren.” 951: An Art Magazine, November, 1975: 14–15.
Lubell, Ellen. “Arts Reviews: Richard Van Buren.” Arts Magazine 52, no. 2 (1977): 23–24.
Masheck, Joseph. “Sorting Out the Whitney Annual.” Artforum 9, no. 6 (1971): 70–74.
Matthias, Rosemary. “In the Galleries: Richard Van Buren.” Arts Magazine 46, no. 8 (1972): 60.
Mayer, Rosemary. “Attitudes Toward Materials, Content, and the Personal.” Arts Magazine 47, no. 7 (1973): 63–66.
McIntyre, Arthur. “Critical Eye: Richard Van Buren and Batya Zamir.” Craft Australia, no. 3 (1978): 69.
Mellow, James R. “New York.” Art International 11, no. 6 (1967): 51–52.
Morgan, Robert C. “Richard Van Buren.” World Sculpture News 18, no. 1 (2012).
Muller, Gregoire. “Materiality and Painterliness.” Arts Magazine 46, no.1 (1971): 34–37.
Ollman, Leah. “The 1960s Dilexi Gallery, Raw and Radical, Gets Brought Back to Life.” Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2019.
Pincus-Witton, Robert. “New York: Plastic Presence, Jewish Museum.” Artforum 8, no. 5 (1970): 69.
Preece, Robert. "Nothing is Static: A Conversation with Richard Van Buren." Sculpture 35, no. 9 (2016): 24–29.
Ratcliff, Carter. “New York Letter.” Art International 14, no. 5 (1970): 76–81.
———. “Solid Color.” Art News 71, no. 3 (1972): 26–28, 62A–62B.
Reisenfeld, Robin. “Richard Van Buren.” Sculpture 32, no. 1 (2013): 74–75.
“Richard Van Buren.” Modern Painters 24, no. 2 (2012): 83.
Rose, Barbara. “Shall We Have a Renaissance?” Art in America 55, no. 2 (1967): 30–39.
Rose, Herman. “Reviews and Previews: Richard Van Buren.” Art News 66, no. 4 (1967): 13.
———. “Reviews and Previews: Richard Van Buren.” Art News 67, no. 2 (1968): 10.
———. “Reviews and Previews: Richard Van Buren.” Art News 69, no. 6 (1970): 18, 71–72.
Rubinstein, Raphael. “Richard Van Buren at Garth Greenan Gallery,” Art in America 107, no. 10 (2019): 102.
Stimson, Paul. “Review of Exhibitions: Richard Van Buren at Paula Cooper.” Art in America 65, no. 6 (1977): 135–136.
Tuchman, Phyllis. “An Interview with Richard Van Buren.” Artforum 8, no. 4 (1969): 56–58.
Wasserman, Emily. “New York: Group Show, Bykert Gallery.” Artforum 8, no. 1 (1969): 59–61.
———. “Richard Van Buren, David Navros, Charles Ross: Three Californians in New York.” Artforum 6, no. 10 (1968): 34–38.
Wolmer, Bruce. “Reviews and Previews: Richard Van Buren.” Art News 69, no. 10 (1971): 17.
Wooster, Ann-Sargent. “Review of Exhibitions: Richard Van Buren at the C.U.N.Y. Graduate Center and Paula Cooper.” Art in America 63, no. 5 (1975): 102.
Yau, John. “Richard Van Buren with John Yau.” Brooklyn Rail (November 2, 2011): 28–29.