Henry Taylor
Blue-chip#40
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
8/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
10/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
9/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
1/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
1/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
Auction Record
$2,480,000
From Congo to the Capital, and black again
Sotheby's New York
- Pricing
- Note
- Contact Hauser & Wirth for current primary market pricing
- Current Range 2023 2025
- $38,100 - $2,480,000 USD
- Primary Market Reported
- $100,000 - $300,000 for new works (as of 2020); older material up to $850,000
- Historical Range 2007 2018
- $1,500 - $975,000 USD
- Auction History
- Work
- From Congo to the Capital, and black again
- Price
- $2,480,000 (including fees)
- Medium
- Acrylic and collage on wood panel
- Estimate
- $1,000,000 - $1,500,000
- Sale Date
- May 18, 2023
- Dimensions
- 80 x 76 inches (203.2 x 193 cm)
- Year Created
- 2007
- Auction House
- Sotheby's New York
- Auction Volume
- Market Depth
- Active secondary market with regular sales at major auction houses
- Recent Activity
- 135 results for 2024-2025 period
- Sell Through Rate
- Strong - six of top 10 auction prices set in 2019
- Total Lots Recorded
- 150+ auction results (Artsy data)
- Collector Demand
- High interest from major collectors; works featured in prestigious private collections; strong institutional acquisition activity
- Previous Records
Work Year Created Price Auction House Sale Date I'll Put a Spell on You 2004 $975,000 (including fees) Sotheby's New York 2018 Untitled (Symbol) 2007 $301,590 (including fees) Christie's London October 7, 2017 - Market Trajectory
- Steadily increasing prices over past decade; record more than doubled from $975,000 (2018) to $2.48M (2023); prices rising with institutional recognition; 2024-2025 shows some softening with below-estimate results but still strong baseline
- Recent Auction Activity 2024 2025
Work Year Price Auction House Performance Sale Date Selfies 2019 Sotheby's — March 29, 2025 Daniella Stiendfeld 2012 $48,260 Phillips Below estimate February 28, 2025 Untitled — $38,100 Phillips Below estimate May 2025
Institutional Presence
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
New York, NYWhitney Museum of American Art
New York, NYMetropolitan Museum of Art
New York, NYLos Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Los Angeles, CAMuseum of Contemporary Art (MOCA)
Los Angeles, CASan Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)
San Francisco, CAHammer Museum
Los Angeles, CAInstitute of Contemporary Art (ICA)
Boston, MACarnegie Museum of Art
Pittsburgh, PAStudio Museum in Harlem
New York, NYPérez Art Museum Miami
Miami, FLMuseum of Fine Arts
Houston, TXNasher Museum of Art at Duke University
Durham, NCBronx Museum of the Arts
Bronx, NYJ. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, CAPinault Collection / Bourse de Commerce
Paris, FranceFondation Louis Vuitton
Paris, FranceArt Institute of Chicago
Chicago, ILSmithsonian Institution
Washington, DCCleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, OH- Exhibitions
- Group Exhibitions
Title Year Venue Significance Whitney Biennial 2017 Whitney Museum of American Art Major biennial participation 58th Venice Biennale 2019 Venice, Italy Major international biennial 30 Americans — — Major traveling exhibition of African American artists - Major Solo Exhibitions
Title Dates Venue Significance Henry Taylor: B Side November 6, 2022 - April 30, 2023 Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Los Angeles Largest exhibition of Taylor's work to date, 30-year retrospective with 130+ works Henry Taylor January 29 - April 9, 2012 MoMA PS1 Mid-career retrospective Nothing Change, Nothing Strange March 2 - October 22, 2023 The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia Artist-in-Residence project with immersive installation FROM SUGAR TO SHIT October 14, 2023 - January 7, 2024 Hauser & Wirth, Paris Inaugural exhibition for Hauser & Wirth Paris gallery In the Studio February 26 - June 6, 2021 Hauser & Wirth Somerset Artist residency during lockdown You Me 2024 Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin Two-person show with Jill Mulleady No Title 2024 Hauser & Wirth, New York (18th Street) Limited-edition etchings and hand-painted monoprints Sis and Bra 2007 Studio Museum in Harlem —
- Museum Collections
- Curatorial Interest
- Extremely high - major retrospective at Whitney/MOCA; inaugural exhibition for Hauser & Wirth Paris; works featured in major group exhibitions including Whitney Biennial and Venice Biennale; extensive museum acquisitions across Tier 1 institutions
- Awards and Recognition
Recognition Year Location — 2018 — Elected member of the Department of Art, American Academy of Arts and Letters 2024 New York, NY Gala Honoree at the Drawing Center and BOMB Magazine 2020 New York, NY Honored at CalArts REDCAT Gala 2019 Los Angeles, CA
Career & Biography
- Career
Period Significance Role 1987-1997 Created 'Camarillo Drawings' (1984-95) of patients; formative period developing empathetic approach Psychiatric technician at Camarillo State Mental Hospital (10 years) Late 1990s Known for studio openness, mentored younger artists Established in Los Angeles art scene 2000s-2010s MoMA PS1 retrospective 2012, Whitney Biennial 2017, Venice Biennale 2019 Rising profile with institutional recognition 2020-present Major retrospective 'B Side' 2022-2024, inaugural exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Paris 2023 Represented by Hauser & Wirth (2020), previously Blum & Poe (until 2025) - Identity
- Current Location
- Los Angeles, California
- Family Background
- Youngest of eight children (childhood nickname 'Henry VIII'); father was a commercial painter employed by U.S. Government at naval air station; mother worked as a housekeeper/maid; brother Randy was a founding member of Ventura County chapter of Black Panthers
- Artistic Context
- Alice Neel, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Kerry James Marshall, Willem de Kooning, Philip Guston, Jean Dubuffet, Basquiat, Matisse, Goya, Velázquez, Bob Thompson, David Hammons Works intuitively with empathy-driven approach; mines personal history and experiences through 'hunting and gathering'; rejects label of 'portraitist' - subjects are pieces of larger cultural narratives; rapid, instinctual painting process; influenced by psychiatric work developing deep human connection
Artistic Profile
- Style
- Expressive figurative painting; rapid, instinctual execution; combines flat planes of bold, sensuous color with areas of rich intimate detail and loose brushstrokes; moves between figuration and abstraction; raw immediacy combined with tenderness
- Evolution
Period Description 1984-1995 Camarillo Drawings - sensitive pencil sketches of psychiatric patients; formative period 1990s Began painting on found objects (cigarette boxes, cereal boxes); developed signature loose, rapid style 2000s Established mature style; increased focus on social and political themes; portraits of Black Panthers and civil rights figures 2010s-present Large-scale canvases; assemblage sculptures; installations; increased institutional recognition; exploration of landscape alongside figure; recent venture into printmaking - Themes and Subjects
- Portraiture (friends, family, neighbors, celebrities, politicians, strangers, homeless individuals)African American life and experienceSocial commentary on race, class, homelessness, police violenceHistorical figures and cultural iconsNeighborhood scenes and landscapesPolitical activism and civil rights (influenced by brother's Black Panther involvement)Memory and personal historyCollapsing of time periods and spaces
- Movements and Periods
- Signature Works
Title Year Significance From Congo to the Capital, and black again 2007 Auction record holder; riff on Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon THE TIMES THAY AINT A CHANGING, FAST ENOUGH! 2017 Widely regarded as 21st century American masterpiece; in Whitney collection Cicely and Miles Visit the Obamas 2017 Collapses time periods - 1968 photograph transported to Obama White House Huey Newton 2007 Reimagines iconic 1968 Black Panther portrait; in Whitney collection I'll Put a Spell on You 2004 Previous auction record of $975,000 - Innovative Aspects
- Transcends boundaries between painting and sculpture; uses unconventional supports (found objects, boxes, furniture); collapses historical periods and spaces; combines high art references with spontaneous expressiveness; 'promiscuous painting' that defies categorization
- Techniques and Mediums
- Primary Media
- Acrylic painting on canvasMixed media sculptures and assemblagesPaintings on found objects (cigarette packs, cereal boxes, furniture, suitcases, crates)Works on wood panelsInstallationsDrawings (including Camarillo Drawings series 1984-95)Limited-edition etchings and hand-painted monoprints (recent)
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Critical Consensus
- Widely celebrated for unique aesthetic, social vision, and freewheeling experimentation; praised for empathetic approach to portraiture; work described as 'sensuous, vibrant, bold, fast and loose, full of empathy, generosity, and love, and the visual equivalent to blues music'; recognized for maintaining balance between art-world references and spontaneous expressiveness; compared to Alice Neel, Kerry James Marshall, and Harlem Renaissance painters
- Monographs and Catalogs
Title Year Note Henry Taylor: B Side 2022 Hefty volume, fully illustrated Henry Taylor: The Only Portrait I Ever Painted of My Momma Was Stolen 2018 Published following MoMA PS1 show, out of print
- Publications and Media
- Major Publications
Date Publication July 30, 2018 The New Yorker June 28, 2018 Vulture October 4, 2023 Artforum — The New York Times — The Los Angeles Times January 6, 2024 Rolling Stone — Frieze January 9, 2024 Art & Object December 2017 Beaux Arts Magazine — Culture Type
Gallery & Representation
- Fair Presence
Year Note Fair 2023 Hauser & Wirth Paris opening coincided with fair Paris+ par Art Basel 2017 Solo exhibition presented by Blum & Poe FIAC (International Contemporary Art Fair) - Representation
- Representation History
- Established in LA gallery scene in late 1990s; represented by Blum & Poe for 10 years starting 2010; joined Hauser & Wirth in 2020 while maintaining Blum & Poe relationship; now exclusively with Hauser & Wirth as of 2025
- Previous Representation
- Note
- Initially worked with both galleries simultaneously; relationship continued until 2025
- Period
- 2010-2025
- Gallery
- Blum & Poe
- Location
- Los Angeles
- Gallery Exhibitions Recent
- Note
- Homage to mentor James Jarvaise
- Dates
- June 28 - October 5, 2025
- Title
- Sometimes a straight line has to be crooked
- Gallery
- Hauser & Wirth Downtown Los Angeles
- Geographic Reach
- Contact Hauser & Wirth for current availability and pricing; strong primary market presence with regular new work exhibitions
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