Audrey Flack
Value#68
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
5/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
10/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
6/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
3/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
2/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Pricing
- Post 2024
- Death in June 2024 may increase market attention and pricing; estate market management expected
- Sculpture
- Context
- Monumental public commissions; bronze sculptures; market data limited
- Example
- Islandia, Goddess of the Healing Waters (1988, Ed. 2/6) - historical auction presence
- Historical
- 1970s-1990s: Gallery sales and museum acquisitions established market
- 2000s-2020s
- Sustained institutional interest; limited auction presence for major works
- Photographs
- Range
- $1,200-$2,750
- Context
- Dye transfer prints from '12 Photographs: 1973-1983' series
- Edition
- 50 plus artist proofs
- Prints Multiples
- Range
- $660-$2,950
- Context
- Screenprints, lithographs, dye transfer prints from 1970s-1980s
- Sources
- 1stDibs, Invaluable, RoGallery
- Editions
- Typically edition of 50-150
- Typical Price
- $2,500
- Paintings Unique Works
- Note
- Primary market activity through Hollis Taggart Gallery (current representation since 2015); pricing not publicly disclosed
- Historical Context
- Major paintings in museum collections; minimal recent auction activity for large-scale photorealist paintings
- Liquidity
- MODERATE for prints/multiples; LOW for major paintings
- Collector Base
- Museums (primary collectors); feminist art collectors; Photorealism specialists; institutional collectors Primarily US market; strong New York presence; international museum collections (National Gallery of Australia)
- Auction History
- Buy in Rate
- Data not available
- Lots Per Year
- Estimated 5-15 annually (mostly prints/multiples)
- Record Prices
- Note
- No major auction records found in recent searches; historically important paintings held in museum collections or gallery-represented
- Context
- First Photorealist acquired by MoMA (Leonardo's Lady, 1974) indicates institutional validation preceded robust auction market
- Auction Houses
- Heritage Auctions, Brunk Auctions, RoGallery, smaller regional houses
- Market Character
- Gallery-controlled market for major works; secondary market active for prints and photographs
- Recent Activity 2024 2025
- Primarily prints and multiples; paintings 'Price on Request' through galleries
- Market Position
- Market Positioning
- Segment
- Historical Photorealism pioneer; feminist art icon
- Comparables
- Richard Estes, Chuck Close, Robert Cottingham (male Photorealists); unique as only prominent female Photorealist of founding generation
- Market Characteristics
- Strong institutional presence suppresses secondary market availabilityEstate likely controlling market post-2024 deathGallery representation (Hollis Taggart) indicates primary market focusPrints accessible; major paintings rare at auction
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
- Museum Collections
- International
- National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (Jolie Madame, 1972)
- Tier 1 Museums
Institution Confirmed Notable Works Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York — Leonardo's Lady (1974) - prominently displayed in 2019 reopening; 4 works online Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Museum API data: works in collection Queen (photograph, 1975-76); Macarena of Miracles (1971, painting) Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Museum API data and institutional references — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York Multiple sources confirm collection presence — Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C. Museum API data: 22 works Queen (1976, acrylic on canvas) - Gift of Louis K. and Susan P. Meisel, 2022; Tower of Pisa (1971); Spitfire (1973) - National Air and Space Museum - Tier 2 Museums
- Cleveland Museum of Art (Museum API: works confirmed)Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin CollegeButler Institute of American ArtNational Museum of Women in the ArtsPennsylvania Academy of Fine ArtsAlbright-Knox Art Gallery, BuffaloDallas Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of ArtTaubman Museum of Art, RoanokeUniversity of Arizona Museum of Art (Marilyn (Vanitas), 1977)
- Total Confirmed
- 22 works in Metropolitan Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Cleveland Museum of Art per museum API data; works in 20+ museums worldwide
- Academic Presence
- Featured in Janson's History of Art (1986, 3rd edition) - first female artist with Mary Cassatt
- Subject of scholarly monographs and catalogue raisonnés
- Documentary Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack (2019)
- Archival Presence
- Personal papers donated to Smithsonian's Archives of American Art (world's largest repository for American visual art documentation)
- Awards and Recognition
Title Year Location Description Civitas: The Four Visions (Monumental Gateway to the City of Rock Hill) 1991 Rock Hill, South Carolina Four twenty-foot high bronze figures on granite pedestals Veritas et Justitia 2007 Thirteenth Judicial Courthouse, Tampa, Florida Fifteen-foot high figure of Justice Islandia, Goddess of the Healing Waters 1987 New York City Technical College, Brooklyn Nine-foot high bronze sculpture Catherine of Braganza statue Early 1990s Queens, New York — Adrienne de La Fayette 2024 Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania Larger-than-life-size bronze statue; completed shortly before artist's death
Career & Biography
- Career
- Studio Locations
- New York City (Upper West Side overlooking Hudson River) and East Hampton, New York
- Identity
- Children
- Two daughters: Melissa (severely autistic) and Hannah
- Artist Name
- Audrey Lenora Flack
- Death Place
- Southampton, New York
- Documentary
- Queen of Hearts: Audrey Flack (2019)
- Honorary Degrees
- Honorary Doctorate, Cooper Union, 1977Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts, Clark University, 2015
- Family Background
- Father Morris Flack (garment factory owner), mother Jeanette Flichtenfeld Flack; both parents immigrated from Poland; raised in Jewish tradition
- Teaching Positions
- Honorary Professor, George Washington UniversityVisiting Professor, University of PennsylvaniaVisiting Professor, Studio Art School International, Florence, Italy (2005)Visiting Professor, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (1990-1994)
- Publications Authored
- Art & Soul: Notes on Creating (Dutton, 1986)On Painting (Abrams, 1981)The Daily Muse (Abrams, 1989)With Darkness Came Stars: Audrey Flack, a Memoir (Penn State University Press, 2024)
- Awards and Recognition
- First female artist (with Mary Cassatt) included in Janson's History of Art (3rd edition, 1986)
- Augustus St. Gaudens Medal, Cooper Union (1982)
- Honorary Albert Dorne Professor, Bridgeport University
- Honorary Vice President, National Association of Women Artists
- Artist of the Year Award, New York City Art Teachers Association
- Additional Creative Work
- Accomplished banjo player; lead vocalist for Audrey Flack and the History of Art Band; released album in 2012 with songs about Lee Krasner, Mary Cassatt, and Vincent van Gogh
- Artistic Context
- Major Influences
- Franz Kline, Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso (early Abstract Expressionism); Rembrandt (self-portraits); Baroque artists Luisa Roldán and Carlo Crivelli (photorealism); 17th-century Flemish vanitas still lifes
Artistic Profile
- Evolution
- Critical Evolution
- Initially criticized for 'feminine' subject matter and emotional content (vs. male Photorealists' 'cool' detachment)
- 1970s: Controversy over MoMA acquisition; Hilton Kramer criticism
- 1980s-1990s: Recognition as major figure; Janson's History of Art inclusion
- 2000s-2020s: Reevaluation as pioneering feminist and critical Photorealist voice
- 2024: Posthumous celebration; memoir and retrospectives
- Influences
- Abstract Expressionists: Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock (1950s New York scene)
- Cubism: Georges Braque, Pablo Picasso
- Old Masters: Rembrandt (self-portraits), Carlo Crivelli (Renaissance)
- Baroque: Luisa Roldán (Spanish), 17th-century Flemish vanitas painters
- Pop Art: engagement with consumer culture and photography
- Themes and Subjects
- Vanitas and memento mori (transience of life, mortality)
- Feminine identity and feminist iconography
- American culture and consumer society
- Religious and mythological symbolism
- Historical and contemporary female figures
- Beauty, excess, and desire
- Art historical references (Baroque, Old Masters)
- Still life compositions with symbolic objects
- Lipstick tubes, perfume bottles, cosmetics
- Playing cards, dice, hourglasses
- Skulls and vanitas imagery
- Photographs within paintings
- Hispanic Madonnas
- Fruit and flowers
- Female icons (Marilyn Monroe)
- Monumental female goddess figures (sculpture)
- Movements and Periods
- Artists Influenced
- Jeff Koons (influenced by ironic kitsch themes in Flack's early work)Subsequent Photorealists (as pioneering female voice)Feminist artists (bold symbolic imagery)Contemporary still life painters
- Distinctive Characteristics
- Only Photorealist to infuse movement with emotion, symbolism, and feminist contentBrought 'speaking objects' with layered narrative meaningBrilliant, saturated colors vs. muted tones of other PhotorealistsBaroque-influenced visual indulgenceAutobiographical and political engagementCareer spanning 7 decades and multiple movements
- Techniques and Mediums
- Pioneering use of photograph projection onto canvasAirbrush technique for photorealistic paintingsSlide projection methodSelf-photography of arranged still lifesBronze casting for sculptureMixed media (acrylic, oil, airbrush)Hyperrealistic detail with symbolic layering
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Not confirmed in search results; scholarly documentation exists through exhibition catalogues
- Publications and Media
- Major Publications
Title Year Significance Author Publisher Breaking the Rules: Audrey Flack, a Retrospective 1950-1990 1992 Major monograph accompanying traveling retrospective Thalia Gouma-Peterson and Patricia Hills Harry N. Abrams, New York Audrey Flack: On Painting 1981 — Essay by Ann Sutherland Harris Harry N. Abrams With Darkness Came Stars: Audrey Flack, a Memoir 2024 Published three months before death; described by New York Times as 'something to savor' — Penn State University Press
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
- Gallery representation indicates participation in major fairs through Hollis Taggart (Art Basel, Frieze, etc.); specific documented participation limited in search results
- Representation
- Since
- 2015
- Status
- Representing estate post-2024
- Location
- New York (521 West 26th Street, 1st & 2nd Floor; 109 Norfolk Street)
- Market Strategy
- Gallery-controlled primary market for major works; selective auction placement for prints; institutional placement priority
- Primary Gallery
- Hollis Taggart
- Former Representation
- Note
- Gallery produced prints in conjunction with 1978 solo exhibition
- Period
- 1970s-1980s; long-term relationship
- Gallery
- Louis K. Meisel Gallery
- Location
- New York
- Significance
- Pioneering Photorealism dealer; close friend confirmed artist's death
- Gallery
- Gary Snyder Project Space/Gallery
- Exhibitions
- 2010 solo show 'Audrey Flack Paints a Picture'
- Geographic Reach
- New Work
- Estate-controlled through Hollis Taggart post-2024
- Unique Works
- Price on Request through Hollis Taggart
- Prints Multiples
- Available through secondary market (1stDibs, Invaluable, RoGallery)
Audrey Flack's fundamentals are strong. But is the timing right for your collection? Egon analyzes fit against your aesthetic thesis, risk tolerance, and portfolio gaps.
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