Bernar Venet Art
Bernar Venet creates large-scale site-specific installations, works of avant-garde performance art and other provocative pieces that have earned him a place among France’s most significant Conceptual artists. He is also known for his abstract and figurative drawings, as well as abstract sculptures.
Venet was born in 1941 in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in southern France as Bernard Venet. In 1958, he attended EMAP Villa Thiole in Nice and decided to pursue an artistic career. Venet moved to New York City in 1961 and started to garner recognition for his monochromatic tar paintings and coal sculptures. It was during this period that he dropped the “d” from his first name.
In 1971, Venet took a break from making art and spent some time teaching art theory at the University of Paris. He decided to resume his artistic work in 1976 and showed his work the following year at Kassel, Germany’s “documenta 6,” a contemporary art exhibition that has featured the likes of Berenice Abbott, Diane Arbus, Willem de Kooning and others. Around this time, Venet pivoted to working with wood and created a series of reliefs called “Arcs, Angles and Straight Lines.” The National Endowment of the Arts recognized Venet with a grant in 1979.
The grant kicked off two decades of exhibitions throughout Europe, the United States, Asia and South America. To date, Venet has participated in more than 40 public sculpture exhibitions and created monumental installations in cities around the globe, including Berlin, Denver, Auckland, Geneva, Austin, Tokyo, Vancouver and more.
In 2005, the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur awarded him with the highest order of merit in France. He was also awarded the International Sculpture Center Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture in 2016. Venet’s works are held in the collections of leading museums around the world including the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Centre Pompidou.
Venet lives and works between New York City and Le Muy.
On 1stDibs, find original Bernar Venet paintings, prints, sculptures and more.
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Art
Etching
2010s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Etching, Aquatint, Engraving
1970s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1990s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph, Offset, Permanent Marker
2010s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Paper, Mixed Media, Permanent Marker, Lithograph, Offset
1980s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
2010s Conceptual Bernar Venet Art
Textile
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Art
Etching
1980s Conceptual Bernar Venet Art
Paper, Charcoal, Cardboard
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Art
Etching
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Art
Etching
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Art
Etching
2010s Contemporary Bernar Venet Art
Etching
1990s Conceptual Bernar Venet Art
Steel
1960s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1990s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1960s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Aquatint
1960s Op Art Bernar Venet Art
Mixed Media
1950s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1960s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Paper, Ink, Lithograph
1970s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Printer's Ink
Early 2000s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph, Offset
1970s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1980s Post-Modern Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
Mid-20th Century American Modern Bernar Venet Art
Watercolor, Lithograph, Stencil
2010s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Photographic Film, Emulsion, Watercolor, C Print, Color, Lithograph, Mon...
1970s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
2010s Minimalist Bernar Venet Art
Etching, Aquatint
2010s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Engraving
2010s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Engraving
Early 2000s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1990s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Silk
1980s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
Early 2000s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Etching, Aquatint
Early 2000s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
1980s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph
2010s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Engraving
Early 2000s Abstract Bernar Venet Art
Lithograph