Cliff Joseph Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Cliff Joseph Art Value Price Guide

Nov. 15, 2024
Cliff Joseph (American, 1922-2020) Offset Lithograph in Colors on Wove Paper, 1969, "Blackboard", H 24" W 33.5"
Est: $800 - $1,200
Signed in ink, lower right. Printed by Zuri Masterpiece Prints in 1971. Unframed. Full sheet size: H 25", W 34.5. Provenance: The Anthony & Davida Artis Collection of African American Fine Art, Flint, Michigan
DuMouchelles
Oct. 03, 2024
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) Humpty-Dumpty.
Est: $12,000 - $18,000
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) Humpty-Dumpty. Oil on linen canvas, circa 1970. 457x610 mm; 18x24 inches. Signed in oil, lower left recto. Provenance: the estate of the artist; private collection. Illustrated: Thom Pegg, Cliff Joseph: Artist and Activist, p. 75. Humpty-Dumpty is a significant, mid-career painting by artist, activist and art therapist Cliff Joseph. Here he explores the expressive vejigante masks of Puerto Rico as both a representation of identity and a symbol of resistance. The papier mâché masks of devilish or demonic characters were part of the Taíno culture and believed to ward off evil spirits. Joseph's evocative, surrealist painting evokes the political consciousness of the moment, at the height of the Black Arts Movement. In 1968, Joseph co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) as a direct response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's controversial exhibition Harlem on My Mind which did not include any works by Black painters or sculptors. The Coalition's goal was to increase the representation of Black artists in New York galleries and museums. Pegg p. 74.
Swann Auction Galleries
Oct. 03, 2024
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) Blackboard.
Est: $2,000 - $3,000
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) Blackboard. Offset color lithograph, 1969. 572x845 mm; 22½x33¼ inches, full margins. Signed in ink, lower right. Printed by Zuri Masterpiece Prints in 1971. A contemporary reproduction print of Cliff Joseph's important painting - another impression is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 04, 2024
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) A Black Prince Dreams of Africa.
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) A Black Prince Dreams of Africa. Oil on cotton canvas, circa 1968. 610x762 mm; 24x30 inches. Signed in oil, lower right. Provenance: the estate of the artist; private collection. Illustrated: Thom Pegg, Cliff Joseph: Artist and Activist, p. 85. A Black Prince Dreams of Africa is a fascinating mid-career painting by artist, activist and art therapist Cliff Joseph. This evocative, dream-like painting evokes both Pan-African symbolism and Afro-Futurism. This image was created during the height of the Black Arts movement. In 1968, Joseph also co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) with Benny Andrews, Henri Ghent, Reggie Gammon, Mahler Ryder and Edward Taylor. Its founding was a direct response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's controversial exhibition Harlem on My Mind which did not include any works by Black painters or sculptors. The Coalition's goal was to increase the representation of Black artists in New York galleries and museums.
Swann Auction Galleries
Dec. 02, 2023
Cliff Joseph, 1924-2020, Ballet (Red Shoes)
Est: $3,000 - $5,000
Cliff Joseph 1924-2020 Ballet (Red Shoes) 1953 oil on masonite 36 x 10 inches signed Provenance: private collection, San Anselmo, CA REF: this work is listed in Cedarholm, Afro-American Artists, A Bio-bibliographical Dictionary, 1973 An early example of Joseph's work. The surrealist style is similar to "Self Portrait", pictured in Cliff Joseph, Artist and Activist, Thom Pegg, p. 94.
Black Art Auction
Oct. 19, 2023
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) Ancestral Affirmation.
Est: $20,000 - $30,000
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) Ancestral Affirmation. Oil on linen canvas, 1987. 1321x1524 mm; 52x60 inches. Signed, titled, dated and inscribed "oil on canvas" in ink, verso. Provenance: the estate of the artist; private collection. Illustrated: Thom Pegg, Cliff Joseph: Artist and Activist, p. 82; Journal of Socialist Thought, vol 9., no. 1, Spring, 1989, p. 44. Ancestral Affirmation is a significant, late career painting by artist, activist and art therapist Cliff Joseph. This painting explores African tribal art as both an inspiration for modern art and a representation of Black identity. In these masks, Joseph refers to the following African cultures and places for the masks depicted (left to right): Basonge, Congo; Baule, Ivory Coast; Bambara, Mali; Baboa, Congo; Toma, Guinea; Dan, Ivory Coast and Baluba, Congo. These references are drawn in a sketch by the artist in the artist's estate. Born in 1922 in Panama City where his father was employed in the construction of the Panama Canal, Joseph's family emigrated to the United States the following year, settling in Harlem. Following military service in the Army artillery and WWII, he studied at the Pratt Institute in New York, receiving a degree in illustration in 1952. Cliff Joseph best described his practice of painting: "the power of the art belongs to the people." By 1968, both his painting and activism were reaching new heights. That year, Joseph painted one of his best known works, My Country Right or Wrong, a powerful anti-war statement. In 1968, Joseph also co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) with Benny Andrews, Henri Ghent, Reggie Gammon, Mahler Ryder and Edward Taylor. Faith Ringgold also became a member of BECC. Its founding was a direct response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's controversial exhibition Harlem on My Mind which did not include any works by Black painters or sculptors. Its goal was to increase the representation of Black artists in New York galleries and museums. Joseph and the BECC went on to also protest the Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition Contemporary Black Artists in America, and organized the exhibition Rebuttal to Whitney Museum Exhibition at the Acts of Art Gallery in Manhattan. Joseph was also one of the first African Americans to join the professional practice of art therapy, and the first African American to join the American Art Therapy Association. He practiced art therapy at Lincoln Hospital and was on staff at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Swann Auction Galleries
Apr. 06, 2023
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) African Princess.
Est: $35,000 - $50,000
CLIFF JOSEPH (1922 - 2020) African Princess. Oil on masonite board, circa 1970. 1219x813 mm; 48x32 inches. Signed and titled in oil, upper left verso. Provenance: the estate of the artist; private collection. African Princess is a significant mid-career painting by artist, activist and art therapist Cliff Joseph. This painting reframes the genre of the nude as a representation of Black identity. As in his Rise People Rise., 1970, Joseph intergrates Black figures into the red, green and black colors of the Pan-African flag. Here in a vertical composition, the central nude woman completes the tricolors while holding colored cloth in each hand. This powerful political and artistic statement was created at the height of the Black Arts movement. As a founding member of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition in New York, Joseph was at the vanguard of a transformative moment in African American art and history. Born in 1922 in Panama City where his father was employed in the construction of the Panama Canal, Joseph's family emigrated to the United States the following year, settling in Harlem. Following military service in the Army artillery and WWII, he studied at the Pratt Institute in New York, receiving a degree in illustration in 1952. Cliff Joseph best described his practice of painting: "the power of the art belongs to the people." By 1968, both his painting and activism were reaching new heights. That year, Joseph painted one of his best known works, My Country Right or Wrong, a powerful anti-war statement. In 1968, Joseph also co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) with Benny Andrews, Henri Ghent, Reggie Gammon, Mahler Ryder and Edward Taylor. Faith Ringgold also became a member of BECC. Its founding was a direct response to the Metropolitan Museum of Art's controversial exhibition Harlem on My Mind which did not include any Black painters or scultpure. Its goal was to increase the representation of Black artists in New York galleries and museums. Joseph and the BECC went on to also protest the Whitney Museum of American Art exhibition Contemporary Black Artists in America, and organized the exhibition Rebuttal to Whitney Museum Exhibition at the Acts of Art Gallery in Manhattan. Joseph was also one of the first African Americans to join the professional practice of art therapy, and the first African American to join the American Art Therapy Association. He practiced art therapy at Lincoln Hospital and was on staff at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Swann Auction Galleries
Mar. 12, 2022
Cliff R. Joseph, 1922-2020, untitled, Revolutionary
Est: $25,000 - $35,000
Cliff R. Joseph 1922-2020 untitled, Revolutionary 1972 oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches signed and dated Illustrated: Cliff Joseph, Artist and Activist, Thom Pegg, p. 68-69. Provenance: the artist to private collection, Kansas City, MO.
Black Art Auction
Dec. 04, 2021
Cliff Joseph, 1922-2020, The Bystanders
Est: $30,000 - $50,000
Cliff Joseph 1922-2020 The Bystanders 1966 oil on masonite 21 1/2 x 30 inches signed, dated and titled Exhibited: Afro-American Artists 1800-1969, School District of Philadelphia, 1969 Illustrated: Cliff Joseph, Artist and Activist, Thom Pegg, p. 10. Provenance: the artist to private collection, Kansas City, MO.
Black Art Auction
Jul. 11, 2020
Cliff Joseph, b. 1922, Egg From the Eagle''s Nest, oil and collage on board, 20 x 16 inches.
Est: $10,000 - $20,000
Cliff Joseph b. 1922 Egg From the Eagle's Nest oil and collage on board 1966 Signed, titled and dated Exhibited: TCB: Taking Care of Business, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, Dorchester, MA, 1971. Joseph depicts the transformation of the peaceful African into the angry African American, raised by the United States. The imagery of the flag and the symbolism of the eagle represent the country responsible for the individual's upbringing. The divided images within the egg reveal that the outcome could go either way, but it is the eagle's talon, it's imagery closely related to war and violence, which divides the embryonic individual into disconcerted halves. The war in Vietnam and the violence against blacks during the civil rights movement surrounded the African American with hostility. 20 x 16 inches.
Black Art Auction
May. 20, 2020
CLIFF JOSEPH B. 1927 BLACKBOARDS FRAMED POSTER
Est: $30 - $50
Cliff Ricardo Joseph US/Panama B. 1927. Offset lithographic poster of his famous 1969 painting "Blackboards" that resides in the Fine Arts Museum in San Francisco. Measures: 24" x 33 1/2" Provenance: Ex-Westchester, NY print collection assembled by a dealer in fine French and international prints.
Austin York LLC
May. 16, 2020
Cliff Joseph, b. 1922, Southern Comfort, Oil on board, 16 x 16 inches
Est: $10,000 - $20,000
Cliff Joseph b. 1922 Southern Comfort Oil on board 1965 Signed and dated Literature: Stromberg, Robert, "Artist Finds Black Beautiful", The Jersey Journal, Jan. 8, 1969 "Cliff Joseph: Artist and Activist", Tyler Fine Art, 2018. 16 x 16 inches
Black Art Auction
Nov. 24, 2019
Cliff Joseph King's Thing
Est: $400 - $600
Cliff Joseph (b. 1922) King's Thing, 1968 lithograph signed, titled, and dated 34-1/4 x 21 inches framed Illustrated: Joseph, Cliff. Art, Politics, and the Life Force. Forward: Journal of Socialist Thought. 9, no. 1 (Spring 1989), p. 46. Cliff Joseph: Artist and Activist, pp. 86-87, Thom Pegg.
Treadway Gallery