1996
Contemporary New York City-based artist Mark Beard has long demonstrated command in a variety of mediums — he works in oil paint, bronze, ceramics and more. Beard is known mainly for his portraits and figurative paintings, but he is prolific in figurative drawing and nude photography as well.
Beard was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1986, he began working as a set designer, and for the next decade, he created more than 20 sets in New York City, London, Frankfurt, Vienna and Cologne. As a painter and printmaker, Beard didn’t wish to confine himself to a rigid style and instead sought to explore Impressionism, Art Nouveau and other movements in a range of mediums. In order to freely move from one style to the next, Beard created several different personas, assigning a specific biography to each one.
Beard's most prominent artistic alter ego is Bruce Sargeant, whom the artist has positioned in exhibitions as an early 20th-century painter. Beard's work as Sargeant is a detailed study of the male physique. The paintings often feature sculpted athletic men engaged in physical activities like wrestling and rowing. The work is steeped in homoeroticism, and the artist’s name itself is a reference to painter John Singer Sargent — while he’s best known for his Edwardian-era portraits, John Singer Sargent also created murals and drawings of male nudes that were similarly reflective of a homoerotic sensibility.
Beard is also an accomplished landscape painter. His great-grandfather, George Beard, was a regional painter and photographer of the Rocky Mountains. Mark spent summers at his grandfather's 19th-century log cabin retreat as a child. These formative experiences are reflected in his own stunning landscape paintings.
Beard's artwork is held in many high-profile museum collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Today, Beard resides in the Manhattan loft that he purchased in 1994 with his partner, James Manfred. It serves as both his home and his studio. The space is filled with his oil paintings, drawings and sculptures.
On 1stDibs, find Mark Beard paintings, drawings, photography and more.
Untitled 17 (Polaroid Transfer of Standing Young Nude Man on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 10 x 8 inches Standing young nude male with dark background Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom right corner....
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Untitled 13 (Mark Beard Polaroid Transfer of Young Male Nude on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 10 x 8 inches Young male sitting against dark background Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom right corner. ed...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Baroque Back (Polaroid Transfer of Standing Young Nude Man on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 8 x 10 inches Standing Young Nude Man Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom left corner. ed. 1/6 This is one i...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Mark Dancing (Polaroid Transfer of a Nude Man Smoking in Socks on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 10 x 8 inches Standing Nude Male Flexing in Socks and Shoes Smoking a Cigarette Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Untitled 19 (Polaroid Transfer of Young Nude Man in Bed on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 8 x 10 inches Young Nude Man in Bed Unique Polaroid Transfer on 22 x 15 inch Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom left...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
Linda (Polaroid Transfer of Nude Woman on Rives BFK)
By Mark Beard
Located in Hudson, NY
image size: 15 x 11 inches Artist Proof Photograph of Nude Woman Sitting Unique Polaroid Transfer on Rives BFK paper, unframed signed SM Beard in pencil on bottom right corner, unique print. This is one in a series of Polaroid transfers...
Archival Paper, Polaroid
The Kiss (Sidewinder) - analog, unmounted - Polaroid, Contemporary, Color, photo
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
The Kiss (Sidewinder) - 2005 125x154cm, Edition 3/5, analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, based on the original Polaroid. Signature label and...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
The Kiss (Sidewinder) - mounted, analog - Polaroid, Contemporary, Color, photo
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
The Kiss (Sidewinder) - 2005 125x154cm, Edition 2/5, analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist on Fuji Crystal Archive paper, based on the original Polaroid. Signed on verso. Artist Inventory No. 3120.02. Mounted on Aluminum with matte UV-Protection. This piece ships in a crate. Schneider harnesses the unpredictable chemical mutations of expired Polaroid film, where bursts of color erupt across the surface, destabilizing the photograph's traditional allegiance to reality. These vivid distortions draw her characters into ethereal, trance-like dreamscapes. Like fleeting sequences from a vintage road movie, Schneider’s images shimmer with a transitory quality, dissolving before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. Their ephemeral essence is conveyed through subtle gestures and enigmatic motives. Refusing to yield to the constraints of reality, Schneider’s work keeps alive a delicate interplay of dream, desire, fact, and fiction, blurring the boundaries between them with poetic ambiguity. Stefanie Schneider’s work echoes the heart of American art, channeling the cinematic nostalgia of Ed Ruscha’s roadscapes, the stark sensuality of Georgia O’Keeffe’s deserts, and the haunting solitude of Edward Hopper...
Metal
A Kiss (Till Death do us Part) - Contemporary, Polaroid, Women
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Little Darlings (Till Death do us Part) - 2005 38x37cm, Edition of 10, plus 2 artist proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inv...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
A Kiss (Till Death do us Part) Contemporary, Woman, Polaroid
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
A Kiss (Till Death do us Part) - 2005, 48x47cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Invento...
Parchment Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
The Kiss - Henry's Memory Sequence (Stay) - Polaroid
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
The Kiss - Henry's Memory Sequence (Stay) - 2006 featuring Ryan Gosling and Elizabeth Reaser 20x20cm, Edition of 10, Archival C-Print, based on the Polaroid. Certificate and Sig...
Photographic Film, Archival Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
Desire (Till Death do us Part) - Contemporary, Polaroid
By Stefanie Schneider
Located in Morongo Valley, CA
Desire (Till Death do us Part) - 2007 20x24cm, Edition of 10 plus 2 Artist Proofs. Archival C-Print, based on the original Polaroid. Certificate and Signature label. Artist Inv...
Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Polaroid
