Rae Klein
Growth#27
Egon Investment Scores
Liquidity
2/10
How easily works can be bought and sold at auction
Institutional
6/10
Museum collections, biennials, and institutional recognition
Momentum
8/10
Recent price trends, gallery moves, and market buzz
Discovery
3/10
Undervaluation opportunity relative to peer artists
Risk
4/10
Investment risk factors — higher means more volatile
Market Position
- Collector Base
- Demographics
- Contemporary art collectors; collectors interested in surrealist-influenced figuration; Instagram-native collecting demographic
- Collection Status
- Works in private collections across United States and abroad
- Notable Collectors
- Name
- Peter Brant Jr.
- Evidence
- Co-curated 'Echoes of Eden: A Return to Bosch's Garden' exhibition at private residence in New York (2024) featuring Klein's work
- Significance
- Son of major collector Peter Brant; indicates high-level collector interest
- Geographic Distribution
- United States (primary), Europe (Bucharest exhibitions suggest European collector base)
- Primary Market
- Availability
- Works primarily sold through gallery channels; limited availability
- Pricing Notes
- Contact Nicodim Gallery for current pricing on primary market works. Early career works (2020-2021) likely significantly lower than current production.
- Representation
- Nicodim Gallery (primary representation)
- Pricing Structure
- Gallery-controlled; specific prices not publicly disclosed
- Auction History
- Auction Results
- Date
- February 28, 2025
- Size
- 45 1/8 x 60 1/8 in. (114.6 x 152.7 cm)
- Year
- 2022
- Notes
- First documented auction result for the artist
- Title
- Beautiful Ground
- Venue
- Phillips New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art
- Medium
- Oil on linen
- Estimate
- Not disclosed
- Hammer Price
- $10,795
- Total Auction Lots
- Very limited (1 confirmed result)
- Price Range Auction
- $10,795 (single result to date)
- Market Development Stage
- Early secondary market emergence - gallery-controlled primary market
- Market Trajectory
- Phase
- Rapid ascent phase (2022-2025)
- Liquidity
- Very low - minimal secondary market activity; works held by collectors
- Price Volatility
- Unknown - insufficient auction data
- Comparable Artists
- Contemporary surrealist-influenced painters in similar career stage; gallery-represented emerging painters with institutional interest
- Momentum Indicators
- Progression from regional galleries to major contemporary galleries (Nicodim, Jessica Silverman)
- Inclusion in prestigious private collections (Peter Brant Jr. curated exhibition)
- Participation in major art fairs (Art Basel Miami Beach, Dallas Art Fair)
- Strong critical reception and press coverage
- Significant social media following (154K Instagram followers)
- First auction appearance in early 2025 at Phillips
Institutional Presence
- Exhibitions
- Solo Exhibitions
Title Year Dates Venue Location Significance DOUBLECROSS 2025 February 18 - April 19, 2025 Nicodim Gallery Los Angeles, CA Fourth solo with Nicodim; second at LA flagship location POWERPLAY 2023 September 5 - October 14, 2023 Nicodim Gallery New York, NY Third solo exhibition with Nicodim Last Night I Dreamt I Was Running 2023 April 1-29, 2023 Galeria Nicodim Bucharest, Romania — The Comfort in Calamity 2022 September 16 - October 29, 2022 Jessica Silverman Gallery San Francisco, CA First solo with Jessica Silverman; 10 large-scale oil paintings LOW VOICE OUT LOUD 2022 June 25 - August 13, 2022 Nicodim Gallery Los Angeles, CA First solo exhibition with Nicodim Waiting in the Field 2021 — The Valley Taos, New Mexico First solo exhibition This Is How It Is Now 2021 February 5-26, 2021 Arch Enemy Arts Philadelphia, PA Early career solo feature - Art Fair Participation
- Art Basel Miami Beach (2023, 2024, 2025 with Nicodim)Dallas Art Fair (2024, 2025 with Nicodim)Felix Art Fair, Los Angeles (2024 with Nicodim)The Armory Show, New York (2024 with Nicodim)Art Brussels (2022 with Everyday Gallery)
- Forthcoming Exhibitions
Title Year Venue Location Solo exhibition (title TBA) 2026 Nicodim Gallery New York, NY Dolce Far Niente 2026 The Foundry Seoul, South Korea - Significant Group Exhibitions
Title Year Dates Venue Location Significance Curator The Amber of this Moment 2025 June 26 - August 9, 2025 Galeria Nicodim Bucharest, Romania — Inspired by Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five; 14 international artists Echoes of Eden: A Return to Bosch's Garden 2024 — Private residence New York, NY Prestigious private exhibition curated by major collector's son; Hieronymus Bosch-inspired contemporary reinterpretation — Niklas Asker, Rae Klein, Jorge Peris 2024 July 11 - August 9, 2024 Nicodim Gallery New York, NY — — BODYLAND 2022 — Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin, Germany Exhibition at major international gallery Lauren Taschen
- Museum Collections
- Notes
- No confirmed public museum acquisitions to date. Artist is at early career stage (8 years post-graduation). Museum acquisitions typically develop 10-15+ years into career for emerging artists.
- Institutional Validation Indicators
- Representation by Nicodim Gallery (strong contemporary gallery with international presence)
- Exhibition at Jessica Silverman Gallery (respected San Francisco gallery)
- Exhibition at Galerie Max Hetzler (major international gallery)
- Inclusion in Peter Brant Jr. curated exhibition (major collector family validation)
- International exhibition history (US, Romania, planned South Korea)
- Consistent art fair participation at major venues
- Awards and Recognition
- Notes
- No formal awards/residencies documented; career trajectory built through gallery representation and social media presence
Career & Biography
- Career
Period Activities 2017-2020 Post-graduation, worked from garage in Stockbridge, MI; sold paintings independently; built Instagram following (now 154K+) 2020-2022 First group shows in Taos, Philadelphia, Antwerp, Amsterdam, London; secured gallery representation 2022 First major solo shows at Nicodim Gallery (Los Angeles) and Jessica Silverman Gallery (San Francisco) 2022-2025 Multiple solo exhibitions with Nicodim (LA, NYC, Bucharest); participation in Art Basel, Dallas Art Fair, Felix Fair; included in Peter Brant Jr. curated exhibition - Identity
- Studio Practice
- Scale
- Paintings range from 12x16 inches to 80x80 inches (recent works increasingly larger)
- Location
- Grass Lake, Michigan (studio established October 2022)
- Working Method
- Meticulous oil painting on linen; uses found images from eBay, thrift stores, old photographs; primes canvases herself; works with Detroit-based canvas maker
- Production Rhythm
- Consistent studio practice; produces work for scheduled exhibitions; some spontaneous, fast paintings alongside prepared works
- Current Location
- Grass Lake, Michigan (southeast Michigan)
- Artistic Context
- Explores themes of control, powerlessness, memory, and boundaries; works with decontextualized objects to create new meanings; influenced by surrealism but creates own visual language; focused on learning and evolution rather than final products
Artistic Profile
- Influences
- Influences and Context
- Peer Artists
- Contemporary painters exploring surrealism, memory, and domestic objects; artists using social media for career development; painters without MFA credentials achieving gallery success
- Art Historical Context
- Contemporary surrealist-inflected figuration; post-internet painting; feminist reinterpretation of still life and memento mori traditions; engaged with painting's economic history
- Acknowledged Influences
- Surrealism (Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René Magritte)17th century still life painting (Dutch glass stemware)16th century landscape paintingAlbum cover design aestheticseBay product photographyVintage Sears catalogsFound photographs from thrift store camerasInternet/Web 2.0 visual language
- Generational Positioning
- Millennial painter (b. 1995); Instagram-native generation; non-traditional art world path; represents democratization of art world through social media
- Themes and Subjects
- Themes and Subjects
- Recurring Motifs
- Candelabras and chandeliers (glass, reflective)Curtains (theatrical, domestic)Animals: dogs, horses, sphinxes (often threatening or protective)Women's faces (often obscured or doubled)Glass objects: ponies, shells containing portalsFormal tableware, silver serving piecesPearls, jewelry, ornate decorative objectsEyes (disembodied, watching)Airplanes (recent work)Flowers and botanical elementsHandcuffs and implements of control
- Thematic Concerns
- Control slipping into powerlessnessThe boundary between safety and fearMemory and its fuzzy edgesObjects losing their context and meaningFeminine perspective on power and natureThe uncanny (familiar becoming strange)Wealth, opulence, and their emotional tenorPresence and absenceParadise corrupting into hellJungian psychology and archetypes
- Emotional Register
- Tense, dreamlike, eerie, melancholic, haunting, serenely threatening, romantic yet grotesque, lonely yet beautiful
- Movements and Periods
- Critical Positioning
- Strengths
- Exceptional technical skill; unique visual vocabulary; emotionally resonant work; sophisticated conceptual framework; ability to merge high art tradition with contemporary image culture
- Scholarly Potential
- Work invites analysis through multiple lenses: feminist theory, surrealism, post-internet aesthetics, painting's economic history, psychology of objects
- Market Differentiators
- Non-traditional career path; strong social media presence; Michigan-based (not NYC/LA); no MFA; rapid ascent through gallery system
- Techniques and Mediums
- Medium
- Oil on linen (primary); egg tempera (occasional)
- Surface
- Fine-grain linen; artist primes canvases herself; glossy varnish finish
- Technique
- Meticulous layering of translucent paintCombination of loose, expressive brushwork and tightly rendered detailsAirbrush for highlights (earlier work)Glazing and scumblingDirect painting (for some animal subjects)Varnishing for protection and glossiness
- Color Palette
- Browns, Prussian blues, ochres, sepia tones, ethereal grays, luminous whites; emphasis on light refraction and glow
- Compositional Strategies
- Objects suspended in ambiguous spaceDimensionless backgrounds vs. rendered objectsFloating, decontextualized imageryTheatrical framing (curtains, proscenium references)Superimposition and layeringDuplication/mirroring (recent work)Portal-like spaces within compositions
Critical Reception
- Critical Reception
- Critical Consensus
- Strongly positive; described as 'profoundly beautiful paintings,' 'enigmatic and mesmerizing,' 'masterfully integrates disparate techniques'; work noted for technical sophistication and conceptual depth
- Academic Scholarship
- Notes
- Artist at early career stage; academic scholarship typically develops later
- Monographs
- None (too early in career)
- Scholarly Articles
- None documented
- Catalogue Raisonnes
- None
- Critical Reception Themes
- Surrealist influences with contemporary sensibilityExploration of control, powerlessness, and boundariesMeticulous technical skill in oil paintingUnique visual vocabulary using decontextualized objectsFeminine perspective on power dynamicsDreamlike, atmospheric qualityComparison to Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, René MagritteSuccess through non-traditional path (Instagram, no MFA)
- Publications and Media
- Major Publications
Title Date Significance Publication How Painter Rae Klein Leveraged Her Instagram Following to Launch Her Art Career September 20, 2022 Major profile in leading art publication; discussed non-traditional path to success ARTnews Losing things is about the familiar falling away: Rae Klein - An Enigmatic Mesmerizing of the Senses March 12, 2025 In-depth review of DOUBLECROSS exhibition Whitehot Magazine Artist Rae Klein on How to Find Comfort in Calamity October 6, 2022 Feature interview in culturally influential publication Interview Magazine Your Concise Los Angeles Art Guide for August 2022 August 2, 2022 — Hyperallergic Rae Klein's Uncanny Paradise December 23, 2024 International press coverage to Be Magazine (Australia) 9 Exhibitions To See in Los Angeles During Art Week February 14, 2025 — FAD Magazine — July 2, 2025 / October 8, 2024 — Purple Magazine LOW VOICE OUT LOUD 2022 Detailed critical analysis comparing work to Magritte and discussing economic themes in painting Art Memo Magazine — March 2, 2025 Artist interview discussing practice and influences MEPAINTSME (Substack)
Gallery & Representation
- Representation
- Notes
- Klein stated in 2024 interview: 'Nicodim is great because they are selective with their artists, but I still have creative control'
- Gallery
- Nicodim Gallery
- Locations
- Los Angeles (flagship), New York, Bucharest
- Gallery Tier
- Strong Tier 2 / Emerging Tier 1
- Fair Strategy
- Regular participation in major international fairs through Nicodim; consistent presence at Art Basel Miami Beach, Dallas Art Fair
- Exhibition Count
- 4 solo exhibitions (2022-2025); multiple group shows
- Gallery Marketing
- Strong online presence; gallery promotes through social media; artist maintains personal website (raeklein.com) and active Instagram (154K followers)
- Gallery Trajectory
- Rapid progression from regional galleries (2020-2021) to established contemporary galleries (2022-present); international expansion through Nicodim's multiple locations
- Relationship Start
- 2022
- Gallery Roster Context
- Shows alongside Adrian Ghenie, Nicola Samorì, Daniel Pitín, and other established international artists
- Secondary Representation
- Galleries
- Name
- Jessica Silverman Gallery
- Location
- San Francisco, CA
- Relationship
- Solo exhibition in 2022; unclear if ongoing representation
- Name
- Everyday Gallery
- Location
- Antwerp, Belgium
- Relationship
- Early career group exhibitions
- Geographic Reach
- Limited availability; works primarily sold through gallery; contact info@nicodimgallery.com for inquiries
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