Robert Grosvenor (artist)

Robert Grosvenor
Born
Robert Strawbridge Grosvenor

(1937-03-31)March 31, 1937
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 3, 2025(2025-09-03) (aged 88)
East Patchogue, New York, U.S.
EducationÉcole des Beaux-Arts de Dijon,
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs.
University of Perugia
Known forSculpture
MovementMinimalism
Spouses
  • Verta Smart
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1960, divorced)​
  • Jacqueline Gardner
    ​
    (m. 1965)​
Children3

Robert Strawbridge Grosvenor (March 31, 1937 – September 3, 2025) was an American contemporary sculptor, installation artist and draftsman. He is known for his monumental room installations, which border between sculpture and architecture. Grosvenor is associated with minimalism.[1]

Early life and education

Grosvenor was born March 31, 1937, in Manhattan, New York City.[2][3] He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts de Dijon in 1956; at the École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs, Paris in 1957 and 1959; and at the University of Perugia in 1958.[3] He was inspired by Lucio Fontana and Piero Manzoni who he had been warned against while studying.[4] He returned to New York for military service in 1959 during which time he came into contact with Mark di Suvero who introduced him to other artists.[4]

Work and career

Grosvenor was one of the 10 artists that founded the cooperative Park Place Gallery in New York City, open from 1963 to 1967.[5][6] The other founders of the gallery included Mark di Suvero, Dean Fleming, Forrest Myers, Peter Forakis, Leo Valledor, Tamara Melcher, Tony Magar, and Edwin Ruda.[5][6] In Grosvenor's work, he employed a mixture of industrial materials such as car body parts, plexiglass, stone, brick, concrete, and plastic.[7][1] His earlier works were large wooden structures, reminiscent of the work of Ronald Bladen, hung or cantilevered above the exhibition space and later moved on to work that viewers could walk through or under.[8] One of his best known sculptures is Tapanga (1965), originally exhibited in the mid-1960's and later realized in a monumental version at the Storm King Art Center.[9] His work has helped define minimalism and was included in the seminal group exhibitions, Primary Structures (Jewish Museum, 1966), and Minimal Art (Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 1968).[10] His choice to work with rugged materials and found objects following the 1960s distanced him from minimalism.[11] Grosvenor seldom spoke of the meaning behind his work and rarely gave his works titles.[4]

Art market

Grosvenor was represented by Paula Cooper Gallery since 1968, when the gallery opened.[12] Grosvenor briefly left the gallery in 2023.[13] Karma Gallery and Galerie Max Hetzler also showed his work. [14]

Personal life

In 1960, Grosvenor married Verta Smart; they had a daughter and later divorced.[15] In 1965, he married Jacqueline Gardner, with whom he had two children.[15]

Grosvenor died from kidney cancer at his home in East Patchogue, New York, on September 3, 2025, at the age of 88.[15][4]

Recognition

Exhibitions

List of select exhibits by Grosvenor:

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

  • 2012, The Room of the Line, Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany
  • 2010, Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York[2]
  • 2006, What is plastic? 100 years - 100 heads: the century of modern sculpture, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • 2003, It happened tomorrow, Biennale d'art contemporain de Lyon, Lyon, France
  • 1999, Forum: Robert Grosvenor, Andreas Gursky, John Wesley, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • 1995, American Sculptors in the 1960s: Selected Drawings from the Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York
  • 1987, documenta 8, Kassel, Hesse, Germany[20]
  • 1987, L'Epoque, La Mode, La Morale, La Passion: Aspects de l'art d'aujourd'hui 1977-1987, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Center Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
  • 1977, documenta 6, Kassel, Hesse, Germany[21]
  • 1976, 200 Years of American Sculpture, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, New York
  • 1971, Sonsbeek 71, Sonsbeek Park, Arnhem, The Netherlands
  • 1970, Preliminary Drawings, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, New York[22]
  • 1968, Minimal Art, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (now Kunstmuseum Den Haag), The Hague, The Netherlands[23]
  • 1967, Park Place Gallery, Washington, D.C.[3]
  • 1966, Primary Structures, Jewish Museum, New York City, New York[23]

References

  1. ^ a b "Robert Grosvenor's Fractured Beams". Artforum.com. May 1974. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Robert Grosvenor". The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Strobl, Andreas (2009). "Grosvenor, Robert". Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon Online [Artists of the World Online] (in German). De Gruyter.
  4. ^ a b c d Greenberger, Alex (September 4, 2025). "Robert Grosvenor, Sculptor Who Defined Minimalism Before Blazing His Own Trail, Dies at 88". ARTnews. Retrieved September 4, 2025.
  5. ^ a b ""Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York" at Blanton Museum of Art". Artforum.com. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Landfield, Ronnie (June 1995). "Lyrical Abstraction". www.abstract-art.com/. Archived from the original on October 20, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Lindquist, Greg (April 2, 2010). "ArtSeen: Robert Grosvenor". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  8. ^ Marzona, Daniel (2004). Minimal Art. Los Angeles: Taschen. p. 52. ISBN 3-8228-3060-7.
  9. ^ Pepe Karmel (March 8, 1996), Art in Review New York Times.
  10. ^ "Robert Grosvenor, category-defying sculptor, 1937–2025". artreview.com. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  11. ^ Smith, Roberta (July 14, 2017). "What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week". The New York Times. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  12. ^ Greenberger, Alex (September 4, 2025). "Robert Grosvenor, Sculptor Who Defined Minimalism Before Blazing His Own Trail, Dies at 88". ARTnews.com. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  13. ^ Greenberger, Alex (January 23, 2023). "Minimalist Sculptor Robert Grosvenor Leaves New York's Paula Cooper Gallery After More Than 50 Years". ARTnews.com. Retrieved September 30, 2025.
  14. ^ Alex Greenberger (January 23, 2023), Minimalist Sculptor Robert Grosvenor Leaves New York’s Paula Cooper Gallery After More Than 50 Years ARTnews.
  15. ^ a b c Green, Penelope (September 12, 2025). "Robert Grosvenor, Sculptor Who Challenged Gravity, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2025.
  16. ^ Galvan, Abraham (March 23, 2021). "Institute of Contemporary Art issues children's video game". Miami Today. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  17. ^ "Robert S. Grosvenor". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  18. ^ Alex Greenberger (September 1, 2025). "80 Museum Exhibitions and Biennials to See This Fall". ART News.
  19. ^ Henderson, Linda Dalrymple (2008). La Línea Continua: The Judy and Charles Tate Collection of Latin American Art. The Blanton Museum of Art. Blanton Museum of Art, University of Texas at Austin. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-9815738-0-9.
  20. ^ "Art in Society and Documenta 8". Art in America. F.F. Sherman. 1987. p. 256.
  21. ^ Contemporary Artists. Volume 9 of Contemporary Arts Series. St. James Press. 1996. p. 462. ISBN 978-1-55862-183-1.
  22. ^ "Preliminary Drawings, May 23–Aug 31, 1970". The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  23. ^ a b "Robert Grosvenor". Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
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