NOVEMBER 2, 2021
RICHARD BERNSTEIN'S FINE ART
Richard Bernstein was first and foremost a fine artist although it was his commercial work that made him a household name and the art world at the time was not as embracing of crossovers between what they deemed "fine" and "commercial" art as it is today.
Although his commercial output was immense, Richard participated in various exhibition shows between 1965 right up until his untimely death in 2002. Bernstein's first international exhibition was at the Iris Clert Gallery in Paris. His work was also presented at the Axiom Gallery in London, the Gallery Barozzi in Venice (Poster Below), the Gallery Monet in Amsterdam, and the Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City.
In 1975, Richard was chosen to participate in an exhibition that was staged at the Rizzoli Gallery in New York in the winter of 1975-6. Titled 'Fashion as Fantasy' the show featured the work of numerous artists from both the fashion and fine art world. A groundbreaking show curated by David Croland (who designed the poster below listing Richard among the other fine artists) which was the first to take fashion seriously as an artform. The exhibitors ranged from Karl Lagerfeld to Andy Warhol to Marisol to Richard and is credited as one of the first multimedia Fine art exhibition.
While Richard's legacy will always include his iconic work for Magazines and Album Covers, it is his fine art that will ultimately stand the test of time.
