For work that spans portraiture, oil painting and bronze sculpture, the Canadian artist Artis Lane draws from the spiritual and emotional aspects of human existence. Lane is a trailblazer: She was the first Black woman to be admitted to Cranbrook Academy of Art — a legendary institution within art, design and architecture — and her bronze bust of Sojourner Truth was the first statue of an African-American woman in the United States Capitol.
Lane was born in North Buxton, Ontario, in a town predominantly inhabited by the descendants of slaves who arrived in Canada by way of the Underground Railroad. As her artistic career developed, so did her interest in people of African descent as well as her ideas about the physical world and our bodies being vessels, capable of eventually taking on godly characteristics.
“Lane promotes the primacy of corporeal experience with sculptures that speak to Africa as the beginning of human life,” noted the University of Oklahoma’s Journal of Museum Studies in 2008. Her unique approach to depicting the journey between the physical and spiritual worlds has been to work outside the constraints of the traditional bronze finishing process, leaving the ceramic casing, wire and tubing used to cast it intact as part of the finished piece, whereby the wire is symbolic of bondage to the physical form.
Lane attended what was then called the Ontario College of Art (today, it’s the Ontario College of Art and Design University) on the Edith Chapman scholarship before studying painting at Cranbrook. She took an active role in the artistic communities in the various cities she lived in over the years. In New York and Los Angeles, she befriended actors Cary Grant and Diahann Carroll, and in Detroit, she painted commissioned portraits of auto industry executives to pay the bills. She would go on to paint portraits of many esteemed figures such as President John F. Kennedy, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jordan and Aretha Franklin. Today, a sculpture Lane created of Rosa Parks is on display at the National Portrait Gallery.
Lane received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the California African American Museum and an honorary degree from her alma mater, Cranbrook Academy of Art.
Find a collection of Artis Lane art on 1stDibs.
Price Upon Request
"Jesse Owens - Long Jump Medalist", Mixed Media on Paper
By Artis Lane
Located in Detroit, MI
This mixed media on paper painting of Jesse Owens is from the seminal artist Artis Lane and is one of the many exquisite pieces done of historical figures ...
Paper, Mixed Media
Price Upon Request
"Ancient Man", Mixed Media on Paper
By Artis Lane
Located in Detroit, MI
This mixed media on paper from the seminal artist Artis Lane is one of the many model pictures from her long and illustrious career. The subject is an older man, whom is called "Anci...
Paper, Mixed Media
Price Upon Request
"Self Portrait" Frontal Female, Mixed Media on Paper, Subtle Colors
By Artis Lane
Located in Detroit, MI
"Self-Portrait" is a stunning mixed media piece showing the vibrancy of the figure through the use of bold lines and placement of the blue and orange colors. The figure appears to be...
Paper, Mixed Media
Price Upon Request
"Surreal Study" Male and Female Figures on a Branch, Colors, Mixed Media
By Artis Lane
Located in Detroit, MI
"Surreal Study: Male and Female Figures on a Branch" is a complex piece with figures both facing toward and away from the viewer sitting on a branch in a mammoth tree or a fallen tre...
Paper, Mixed Media
$700
H 12 in W 8.5 in D 1 in
Monograph: Portraits in the Presence of Marina Abramovic (Hand signed)
By Marina Abramovic
Located in New York, NY
Marina Abramović Portraits in the Presence of Marina Abramovic (Hand signed by BOTH Marina Abramovic and photographer Marco Anelli), 2021 Hardback monograph with no dust jacket as is...
Paper, Ink, Mixed Media, Lithograph, Offset
$2,186
H 23.82 in W 30.71 in
'And Some Shall Thrive'. Palm leaf blue white minimal topical nature, framed
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'And Some Shall Thrive' Original Artwork. Framed ready to hang ___________________________ The palm appears victorious this hot afternoon, high summer light casting intricate shadows...
Paper, Mixed Media
$8,500
H 24 in W 24 in D 1.25 in
"Centrifuge" - Contemporary Abstract Collage with Figure and Chinese Print
By Steven H. Rehfeld
Located in Carmel, CA
Steven H. Rehfeld (American, born 1954) "Centrifuge" 1998 Oil paint, paper, newsprint, mixed media, on canvas stretched over a wood panel The artist signed the back of the painting. ...
Canvas, Oil, Resin, Mixed Media, Wood Panel, Newsprint, Stretcher Bars
It Is What It Is
By James McQueen
Located in London, GB
2023 Mixed media, archival pigment and silkscreen on deckle-edged satin paper 162 x 111 cm (Framed) Edition of 195 Hand-signed and numbered by James McQueen James McQueen is a Brit...
Mixed Media, Satin Paper, Archival Pigment
$1,600
H 23.04 in W 16.34 in
'Transient Beauty'. Blue botanical floral abstract environmental red lily
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
SOPHIA MILLIGAN 'Transient Beauty' Original Artwork __________________________ The red lily, symbol of passion, love, motherhood, fertility and good fortune. Flashing shafts of sunli...
Paint, Paper, Ink, Mixed Media
$6,500
H 16 in W 12 in D 2 in
Linda Stein, The Eagle 002 - Mixed Media Collage Contemporary Wall Sculpture
By Linda Stein
Located in New York, NY
Linda Stein, Eagle 002 - Mixed Media Collage Contemporary Wall Sculpture These wall constructions and dioramas were made in the 1970s when Linda Stein was also working on her Below ...
Metal
$3,000
H 35 in W 31 in
"Fragments of Old Cairo" Abstract Collage 35" x 31" inch by Neama El Sanhoury
By Neama El Sanhoury
Located in Culver City, CA
"Fragments of Old Cairo" Abstract Collage 35" x 31" inch by Neama El Sanhoury Paper Collage on Wood ARTIST BIO Neama El Sanhoury's upbringing in what she describes as a cultured ho...
Wood, Mixed Media, Paper
$2,186
H 23.82 in W 30.71 in
'Louisiana Irises.' blue white yellow green tropical nature flower abstract
By Sophia Milligan
Located in Penzance, GB
'Louisiana Irises (I Burned As You Bloomed)' Original artwork. Framed, ready to hang ___________________ Blazing heat and azure sky, glamorous flamboyant blooms, the exquisite flush...
Paint, Paper, Ink, Mixed Media
$799
H 16.93 in W 13 in D 0.79 in
Light and Silence, Mixed Media, French Contemporary Art, Interior Scene
By Gabriel Riesnert
Located in AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FR
Subject : Sans Titre (Title - FR) - Untitled (Title - EN) Medium : Oil based Coloured Pencils on archival paper 360gsm. The work has been treated with UV-resistant varnish. Work Siz...
Mixed Media, Archival Paper
Japanese Contemporary Art by Kojun - Mujo 3043
By Kojun
Located in Paris, IDF
UV print of digital photograph on silver leaf on paper, with retouching in acrylic and silver ginder & mounted in Japanese silk scroll Kojun is an self-taught multimédia American ar...
Paper, Mixed Media
$1,000
H 24 in W 18 in
"Doom", Dog person, machete and bear head wheatpasted on collaged street sign
By Sean 9 Lugo
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"Doom" is an original piece by Sean 9 Lugo made from acrylic, marker, ink on paper and mixed media wheatpasted and collaged on decommissioned street sign. This piece features a portr...
Paper, Found Objects, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Permanent Marker, Aquatint
Japanese Contemporary Art by Kojun - Kensho 2351
By Kojun
Located in Paris, IDF
UV print of digital photograph on aluminum leaf on paper Kojun is an self-taught multimédia American artist born in 1977 based in Tokyo, Japan since 1999. Kojun project started in 2...
Paper, Mixed Media, Inkjet
$1,200
H 24 in W 24 in
"Edward 40 Hands", Hand drawn/painted figure on wheatpaste & collage street sign
By Sean 9 Lugo
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"Edward 40 Hands" is an original contemporary wall-hanging artwork by Sean 9 Lugo, known artistically for his murals and street art . The main figure displaying classic street wear c...
Paper, Found Objects, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Permanent Marker, Aquatint
$1,800
H 29 in W 33 in
"No One Cares", Hand drawn/painted bear figure on mixed media street sign
By Sean 9 Lugo
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"No One Cares" is an original piece by Sean 9 Lugo "No One Cares" is an original contemporary wall-hanging artwork by Sean 9 Lugo, known artistically for his murals and street art...
Paper, Found Objects, Ink, Mixed Media, Acrylic, Permanent Marker, Aquatint
$20,000
H 64 in W 38 in D 1.25 in
"Orange and Blue" by Steven H. Rehfeld - Textured Contemporary Abstract Painting
By Steven H. Rehfeld
Located in Carmel, CA
Steven H. Rehfeld (American, born 1954) "Orange and Blue" 1994 Oil Paint, Mixed Media, Newsprint, Canvas, Stretcher Bars, Wire The artist signed the back of the painting. "Orange an...
Wire
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H 30.5 in W 25.5 in
"Seated Man on Motorcycle" Mixed Media, Abstract, Duo-Toned, Nude, Primitive
By Artis Lane
Located in Detroit, MI
"Seated Man on Motorcycle" is an abstract study of a figure at ease on a motorcycle. By limiting the work to white paint on black paper, the images blend into one combined force of s...
Paper, Mixed Media