Ted Joans Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1928 - d. 2003

Ted Joans (1928-2003) was a poet and artist and influential figure in the beat movement. His poetry and performances drew on jazz, surrealism and the African American oral tradition. He is considered by some to be a forerunner of the poetry slam movement. With a degree in fine arts from Indiana University, Joans made paintings, assemblages, collages and drawings. He was friends with Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac and roomed with Charlie Parker in New York. He is known as the originator of the Bird Lives graffiti ubiquitous after Parker's death.

These collages juxtapose the portraits of two important influences on Joans' career: Langston Hughes, who encouraged Joans' poetry early on, and Andre Breton, who welcomed him into the surrealist movement. Joans famously said, Jazz is my religion and surrealism is my point of view.

Read Full Artist Biography

0 Lots

Sort By:

Categories

      Auction Date

      Seller

      Seller Location

      Price Range

      to
      • TED JOANS (1938 - 2003) Untitled.
        Oct. 19, 2023

        TED JOANS (1938 - 2003) Untitled.

        Est: $4,000 - $6,000

        TED JOANS (1938 - 2003) Untitled. Graphite, pencil and crayon on cream wove paper, 1964. 311x413 mm; 12 1/4x16 1/4 inches, full margins. Signed, dated and inscribed "Paris" in pencil, upper right. Provenance: private collection, Paris. Joans was an avant-garde artist and a self-described Surrealist poet, painter, collagist and jazz musician. Born in Cairo, Illinois, as Theodore Jones, he played the trumpet and studied jazz. Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, he earned a degree in fine arts from Indiana University, before moving in 1951 to New York. He authored thirty art and poetry books, and exhibited extensively in both the United States and Europe, beginning in the 1950s. An expatriate artist in the early 1960s, Joans became a legendary figure in bohemian art and poetry circles across Europe. "Ted Joans' poetry is one paradigm of an era, soundings from one of the more colorful individuals who lit it up, whose voice still brightens the curious world he ceaselessly observes. […] Ted is still the world's most Bohemian Beat, Outside Brother."— Amiri Baraka. Joans met first-generation surrealist André Breton in June 1960 during a chance encounter and remained friends and peers discussing the global impact of surrealism. Between 1962 and 1969, he participated in the Parisian group's meetings alongside the Second generation of Francophone surrealists such as Jean-Jacques Lebel and Jean Schuster. Joans later became an active member of the first group of surrealists in America that formed in Chicago in 1966 under the leadership of Franklin and Penelope Rosemont. In 2022, Joans' art was featured in the exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which traveled to Tate Modern, London. Joans' collaborative work Exquisite Corpse,, that the artist worked on for decades with colleagues, was the subject of a 2001 film made by his friend David Hammons.

        Swann Auction Galleries
      • TED JOANS (1928 - 2003) Untitled.
        Apr. 06, 2023

        TED JOANS (1928 - 2003) Untitled.

        Est: $4,000 - $6,000

        TED JOANS (1928 - 2003) Untitled. Collage, ink stamp, crayon and colored pencils on cream wove paper, 1992. 13 3/4x17 inches. Signed, dated "2 Mars 1992" and inscribed "NYC" in ink, lower right. Provenance: private collection. Joans was an avant-garde artist and a self-described Surrealist poet, painter, collagist and jazz musician. Born in Cairo, Illinois, as Theodore Jones, he played the trumpet and studied jazz. Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky, he earned a degree in fine arts from Indiana University, before moving in 1951 to New York. He authored thirty art and poetry books, and exhibited extensively in both the United States and Europe, beginning in the 1950s. An expatriate artist in the early 1960s, Joans became a legendary figure in bohemian art and poetry circles across Europe. "Ted Joans' poetry is one paradigm of an era, soundings from one of the more colorful individuals who lit it up, whose voice still brightens the curious world he ceaselessly observes. […] Ted is still the world's most Bohemian Beat, Outside Brother."— Amiri Baraka. Joans's 1958 painting Bird Lives! is currently on loan from the Fine Art Museums of San Francisco to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2022, his art was featured in the exhibition Surrealism Beyond Borders organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and traveled to Tate Modern, London. Joans's collaborative work Exquisite Corpse, that the artist worked on for decades with colleagues, also was the subject of a 2001 film made by his friend David Hammons.

        Swann Auction Galleries
      • JOANS, Ted (1928-2003). A collection of works including: Ted Joans' Vergriffen; Oder: Blitzlieb Poems. [No place]: Loose Blatter Presse, [1979?]). PRESENTATION COPY  to John Lyle. Proposition Pour un Manifeste Black Power Pouvoir Noir. Paris: Eric Losfeld, [n.d]. PRESENTATION COPY: "To John Lyle and to the Surrealists who believe in the only cause worth serving is the cause of liberating mankind. Ted Joans a black surrealist of blacker magies" [with]; a small photograph of Joans, tipped with an illustration of a mouth.Poete de Jazz. ([No place]: [No pub]: [1978?]. PRESENTATION COPY: "To John Lyle in the final analysis of surreality value, LoPlop proved to be a perfidious feather in our esteemed cap, but 'bird' soars on, This booklet was hatched on 12 March 1978 at Dakar to pay hommage to Charles Parker, Jr born August 29, 1920 Ted Joans". Includes 3 other PRESENTATION COPIES and a TLS in the form of a paragraph of verse, entitled: "Sexeter" addressed to John Lyle from Joans and signed in pencil at the close. (8)
        Jul. 20, 2016

        JOANS, Ted (1928-2003). A collection of works including: Ted Joans' Vergriffen; Oder: Blitzlieb Poems. [No place]: Loose Blatter Presse, [1979?]). PRESENTATION COPY  to John Lyle. Proposition Pour un Manifeste Black Power Pouvoir Noir. Paris: Eric Losfeld, [n.d]. PRESENTATION COPY: "To John Lyle and to the Surrealists who believe in the only cause worth serving is the cause of liberating mankind. Ted Joans a black surrealist of blacker magies" [with]; a small photograph of Joans, tipped with an illustration of a mouth.Poete de Jazz. ([No place]: [No pub]: [1978?]. PRESENTATION COPY: "To John Lyle in the final analysis of surreality value, LoPlop proved to be a perfidious feather in our esteemed cap, but 'bird' soars on, This booklet was hatched on 12 March 1978 at Dakar to pay hommage to Charles Parker, Jr born August 29, 1920 Ted Joans". Includes 3 other PRESENTATION COPIES and a TLS in the form of a paragraph of verse, entitled: "Sexeter" addressed to John Lyle from Joans and signed in pencil at the close. (8)

        Est: £200 - £300

        JOANS, Ted (1928-2003). A collection of works including: Ted Joans' Vergriffen; Oder: Blitzlieb Poems. [No place]: Loose Blatter Presse, [1979?]). PRESENTATION COPY  to John Lyle. Proposition Pour un Manifeste Black Power Pouvoir Noir. Paris: Eric Losfeld, [n.d]. PRESENTATION COPY: "To John Lyle and to the Surrealists who believe in the only cause worth serving is the cause of liberating mankind. Ted Joans a black surrealist of blacker magies" [with]; a small photograph of Joans, tipped with an illustration of a mouth.Poete de Jazz. ([No place]: [No pub]: [1978?]. PRESENTATION COPY: "To John Lyle in the final analysis of surreality value, LoPlop proved to be a perfidious feather in our esteemed cap, but 'bird' soars on, This booklet was hatched on 12 March 1978 at Dakar to pay hommage to Charles Parker, Jr born August 29, 1920 Ted Joans". Includes 3 other PRESENTATION COPIES and a TLS in the form of a paragraph of verse, entitled: "Sexeter" addressed to John Lyle from Joans and signed in pencil at the close. (8)

        Chiswick Auctions
      • [Beat Generation]. Ted Joans. All of Ted Joans and no more.
        May. 06, 2014

        [Beat Generation]. Ted Joans. All of Ted Joans and no more.

        Est: €50 - €100

        Introd. Miss Ilizabeth D. Klar [=Ted Joans]. New York, Excesior, 1961, "2nd printing", (5),92,(3) p., "poems and collages by Ted Joans", SIGNED by the author, orig. cover (very good copy). And: Ted Joans. The Hipsters. New York, Corinth Books, 1961, 1st ed., (96) p., ills., SIGNED by Ted Joans, orig. cover, quarto. [Backflap]: "The funny, wild, hilarious and witty world of the hipsters from Greenwich Village to Paris, A mixture of Dali, Ernst and Kerouac stirred up in a surrealist stew by America's only true "insider" and "outsider" - Ted Joans, a young Negro painter an coffee shop poet who has been featured in Holiday, Life and the Beat Scene."

        Zwiggelaar Auctions
      Lots Per Page:

      Popular Artists

      Devices

      Get Invaluable on Your Phone

      Download the app via text link to get instantly notified if you’re outbid and receive auction reminders so you never miss out!

      Bid On-the-Go!

      Download the Invaluable app and never miss an auction from your iOS or Android device.

      App Store badgeGoogle Play badge
      Invaluable Logo

      As the world's leading online auction marketplace, thousands of auction houses use Invaluable to deepen relationships with millions of clients around the world. Stay connected to the things you love with curated items and auctions sent to your inbox.

      You can unsubscribe at any time. View ourPrivacy Policy.

      © 1986-2024 Invaluable, LLC. and participating auction houses. All Rights Reserved.

      TermsSubscription AgreementPrivacy PolicyCopyrightGDPR InfoPrivacy ChoiceYour Privacy ChoicesSite Map