David Ligare

Biography

BORN: 1945, Oak Park, IL

EDUCATION: Art Center College of Design, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2026

David Ligare, Paintings, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2025

On Using History, Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA

2024

David Ligare: Spheres of Influence, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

Forms of Influence by David Ligare, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA

2023

David Ligare: Drapery Paintings, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

2021

The Presence of the Past, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2020

New Orders, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

2019

Elements, LewAllen Galleries, Santa Fe, NM

2018

David Ligare: Still Life, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

2017 – 18

David Ligare: Magna Fide (The Great Belief), Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, Sonoma, CA

2015 – 16

David Ligare: California Classicist, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
[exhibition traveled to Laguna Art Museum (Laguna Beach, CA), Georgia Art Museum (Athens, GA) and Triton Museum of Art (Santa Clara, CA)]

2015

History, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

To Draw is to See, Drawings: 1972 – 2015, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

2013

River/Mountain/Sea, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA & Monterey Museum Of Art, Monterey, CA

2012

Big Sur: Paintings by David Ligare, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

David Ligare: New Paintings, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

2010

David Ligare: Redux, Plus One Gallery, London, England

2009

Primary Structures, Hartnell College Gallery, Salinas, CA

2008

A Sense of Place: An Homage to Robinson Jeffers, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA

2007

Aparchai, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2006

Ritual Offerings, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

2005

Offerings: A New History, Plus One Gallery, London, England

2003

Sea Paintings, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

2002

Viewpoint: The Pastures of Heaven, National Steinbeck Center, Salinas, CA

Objects of Intention: Still Life Paintings, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2000

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1999

Paintings from the Pastures of Heaven, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1998

The Classical Impulse, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA

L'eta dell'Oro, Galleria Il Polittico, Rome, Italy

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1997

Still Life Paintings, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

1996

Ponte Vecchio/Torre Nova, A Project by David Ligare, The Prince of Wales Institute of Architecture, London, England

Landscape and Language: Paintings by David Ligare, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

1995

Still Lifes, Stiebel Modern, New York, NY

Stages for Contemplation, Fresno Museum, Fresno, CA

1994

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1993

Stiebel Modern, New York, NY

1992

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1990

Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, NY

1988

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1986

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1985

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1984

University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

1983

Hall Galleries, Dallas, TX

Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA

1978

Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, NY

1977

Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ

1973

Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, NY

1970

Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024

Resonantly Me: A Queer Artist’s Invitational, Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA

See Verso: A Guide To Looking Back, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

2020

Mortality: A Survey of Contemporary Death Art, American University Museum, Washington, D.C.

2018

Bread & Salt, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

Vis-à-Vis, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY

2017

License to Deceive, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

Nocturnes: From Dusk till Dawn, Winfield Gallery, Caramel-By-The-Sea, CA

From Wendt to Thiebaud: Recent Gifts for the Permanent Collection, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA

Et in Arcadia Ego, William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art, Thousand Oaks, CA

2013

Duets: Art in Conversation, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY

2012

Summer Selections, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

Sublime: Nature, Science and Beauty in Contemporary Art, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City, CA

2011

Masterworks: The Best of Hirschl & Adler, Hirschl & Adler Galleries, New York, NY

2010

In Common, Pulliam Gallery, Portland, OR

Wine and Spirit: Rituals, Remedies, and Revelry, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, South Hadley, MA

Kink: The Seduction of Art, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City, CA

Summer Selections, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

Take Five: Hirschl & Adler Welcomes Five New Artists, Hirschl & Adler Modern, New York, NY

Tomorrow's Legacies, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA

Real and Hyper Real, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA

2009

American Concepts and Global Visions/Selections from the AT&T Collection, McNay Museum, San Antonio, TX

2008

The West Coast Ten, Sullivan Goss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

Contemporary Still Lifes, Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA

2007

Representation, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA, and New York, NY

Dreamland: American Explorations into Surrealism, Sullivan Goss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA

2006

Beyond the Likeness: Self-Portraits by California Artists, Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, CA

Intimate Landscapes, Winfield Gallery, Carmel-By-The-Sea, and Sesnon Gallery, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA

New Old Masters, curated by Donald Kuspit, National Museum, Gdansk, Poland

The Classical Spirit, Plus One Gallery, London, England

The “S” Word: Spirituality in Contemporary Art, The Judson Gallery of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

2005

Contemporary Drawing as Preparation, The Judson Gallery of Contemporary and Traditional Art, curated by Prof. Ronald E. Steen and The Maine Project, Judson Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

To Be Or Not To Be: Four Hundred Years of Vanitas Painting, Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI

Quindici Anni: dalla nascita della Galleria Il Polittico di Roma, Scuderie Aldobrandini per l’arte, Frascati, Italy

2004

California New Old Masters, Gallery C, curated by Donald Kuspit, Hermosa Beach, CA

2003

The Not-So-Still Life, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA

2002

Artists of the Ideal: Nuovo Classicismo, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Verona, Italy

2001

Collecting Our Thoughts, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA

Poetic Natures, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA

2000

Still Lifes from Hackett-Freedman Gallery, Spanierman Gallery, New York, NY

Drawings V, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

A Noble Tradition Revisited: The Contemporary American Still Life, Spanierman Gallery, New York, NY

1999

Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition, Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, OK (traveling exhibition with catalogue)

1998

Re-Presenting Representation IV, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY

Gold Rush to Pop: 200 Years of California Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA

A Feast for the Eye: Food in Art, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, CA

Realism Knows No Bounds, Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

Drawings IV, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Contempo-Italianate: Contemporary Artists Reflect on Italy, Laband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA

1997

10th Anniversary Exhibition, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Toward the Millenium: Contemporary Paintings from Northern California, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

Re-presenting Representation III, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY

Back into the Future, The Kitchen, New York, NY

Dramatic Realism: The New Baroque, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA

1996

Classicism in the 20th Century, Lizan-Tops Gallery, East Hampton, NY

Still Lifes, Contemporary Realist Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Inaugural Exhibition, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1995

Landscape: The Continuum, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1994

Parallax Views, Contemporary Realist Gallery, San Francisco, CA

Slice of Life: Contemporary Still Lifes, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA

1993

Drawings III, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Still Life, Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

1992

American Realism & Figurative Art 1955–1990, (traveling museum exhibition in Japan)

1991

Drawings, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

Only Drawings, Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA

1990

Architecturally Inspired, Long & Ryle Gallery, London, England

Regarding Art: Art Works About Art, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

1988

Classical Figures, Simms Fine Art, New Orleans, LA

Life Stories, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Reveal: New Work by Gallery Artists, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

1987

Modern Myths, Boise Art Gallery, Boise, ID (traveling exhibition with catalogue)

The Artist and the Myth, Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, Monterey, CA

Parola/Italia, Galleria Appollodoro, Rome, Italy

The Anatomy of Drawing, Hooks-Epstein Gallery, Houston, TX

Contemporary Humanism, Art Gallery, California State University, Fullerton, CA

1986

Drawing: A Classical Continuum, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Uncovering the Past: Tribute & Parody, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA

Annual Purchase Exhibition, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, New York, NY

1985

The Classical Tradition in Recent Painting and Sculpture, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT

Beyond Antiquity: Classical References in Contemporary Art, DeCordova and Dana Museum of Art, Lincoln, MA

American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA

1984

Collector's Gallery XVIII, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, TX

Contemporary Classicism, California State University, Fullerton, CA

1983

A Heritage Renewed: Representational Drawing Today, University Art Museum, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

West Coast Realism, Laguna Beach Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA (traveling exhibition with catalogue)

Realistic Directions, Zoller Gallery, Pennsylvania State University, PA

1982

Modern American Painting, National Pinakothiki, Athens, Greece (organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX)

Public Collections

Selected Bibliography

O’Hearn, John, “The Great Belief,” American Art Collector, p. 53-7, December 2017.

Shields, Scott A., David Rodes, and Patricia Junker. David Ligare: California Classicist. Papadakis Dist A C, 2015.

“Exhibitions,” American Arts Quarterly, Newsington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Center, New York, NY, Winter, pp. 63–4, 2007.

Cooper, James F., “Contemporary Realism: A View From San Francisco,” American Arts Quarterly, Newington-Cropsey Cultural Studies Center, New York, NY, Fall, pp. 2-9, 2007.

O’Hern, John, “Collecting Still Life Paintings,” American Art Collector, p. 40;44, 2006.

Kuspit, Donald, New Old Masters, National Museum, Gdansk, Poland, 2006.

Bamsey, Ben, “The Balancing Act of David Ligare,” Artworks, Summer, pp. 21–30, 2005.

Kuspit, Donald, California New Old Masters, Literary Press Publishing, 2004.

Laudauer, Susan, Gerdts, William H., and Trenton, Patricia, The Not-So-Still Life - A Century of California Painting and Sculpture, University of California Press, Berkeley, CA, 2003.

Deragon, Rick, “A Certain Slant of Light,” The Weekly, April 25, p. 32, 2002.

Nichols, Kathryn McKenzie, “David Ligare: Paintings with a Steinbeck Point of View,” The Monterey County Herald, April 30, p. D1, 2002.

Nichols, Kathryn McKenzie, “Where to buy…,” The Week, February 15, p. 26, 2002.

Gangelhoff, Bonnie, “Classic Ligare,” Southwest Art, February, p. 64, 2002.

“Exhibitions,” American Arts Quarterly, Winter, p. 44, 2002.

Artists of the Ideal: Nuovo Classicismo, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Verona, Italy, 2002.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Art Movements Since 1945, Thames & Hudson, London, New York, 2001.

David Ligare: Various Structures, Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (exhibition catalogue), 2000.

Gangelhoff, Bonnie, “The Promised Land,” Southwest Art, September, pp. 86–90, 2000.

Busler, Leslie, “U.S. Wrap Up,” Southwest Art, December, p. 116, 1999.

Junker, Patricia, “David Ligare and the Pastures of Heaven,” David Ligare, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA (exhibition catalogue), 1999.

Arthur, John, Green Woods and Crystal Waters: The American Landscape Tradition, University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA, 1999.

Moure, Nancy, California Art: 450 Years of Painting and Other Media, Dustin Publishers, Los Angeles, CA, 1998.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Adam, The Male Figure in Art, Rizzoli, New York, NY, 1998.

Mills, Paul, “David Ligare: An Appreciation,” David Ligare, The Classical Impulse, Frye Art Museum, Seattle , WA (exhibition catalogue), 1998.

Brizzi, Arnaldo Romani, David Ligare, Il Politico, Rome, Italy (exhibition catalogue), 1998.

Hackett-Freedman Gallery, 1987–1997, Hackett-Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA (catalogue with color reproduction), 1996.

O'Hern, John D., Re-presenting Representation III, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY (exhibition catalogue), 1996.

Miller, Donald, “Figures, Still Lifes form Forward-Looking Show,” Pittsburgh Post Gazette, (reproduction), October 4, 1996.

Ligare, David, “Florence and the Ideal of Harmonic Proportions,” Artista, Fall 1996.

Junker, Patricia, Landscape & Language: Paintings by David Ligare, Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA (exhibition catalogue), 1996.

Moscogiuri, Margherita, Una 'Torre nova' sul Ponte Vecchio, Arte, p. 47, 1996.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Visual Arts in the Twentieth Century, Laurence King Publisher, London, 1996.

Moscagiuri, Margherita, “Il Ponte Vecchio? lo lo vedo cosi,” La Nazione, September 29, 1996.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Art Today, Phaidon Press, London, pp. 246–47, 1995.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, American Realism, Thames and Hudson, London, 1994.

Lafo, Rachael Rosenfeld, Beyond Antiquity: Classical References in Contemporary Art, DeCordova & Dana Museum, Lincoln, MA, 1992.

Ligare, David, In True Nature, Artista: Critica dell'Arte in Toscana, pp. 66–77, 1992.

Moncrieff, A.R. Hope, A Treasury of Classical Mythology, Barnes & Nobel Books, New York, NY, 1992.

Ligare, David, “Involving Architecture, Painting and Architectural Principles,” Dialogo, University of Notre Dame, School of Architecture, pp. 9–13, 1991.

Stern, Fred, “Letter from America,” Mizue, Tokyo, Japan, p. 122, 1990.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Art in the Eighties, Phaindon, Oxford, England, p. 117, 1990.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, Art Now, Wellfleet Press, Wellfleet, NJ, pp. 512–513; 539, 1989.

Arthur, John, Spirit of Place: Contemporary Landscape Painting and the American Tradition, Little Brown & Co., NewYork, NY, 1989.

Cuming, Hugh, Modern Myths, The New Romantics, Academy Editions, London/St. Martins Press, New York, NY, 1988.

Geer, Suvan, “The Galleries,” The Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1988.

Glowen, Ron, “A Return to Idealized Virtue,” Artweek, February 13, 1988.

Ligare, David, In Search of the 'True Style', The Classical Sensibility, Academy Editions, London/St. Martins Press, New York, NY, 1988.

Wilson, William, “The Shock of the Old,” The Los Angeles Times, March 27, p. 4, 1988.

Wilson, William, “Working on the Quiet Side,” The Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1988.

Smith, Thomas G., Classical Architecture: Rule & Invention, Peregrine Smith Books, Layton, UT, 1988.

McGill, Forest, “Classicism & Contemporary Art: An Interview with David Ligare,” The News, Museum of Art& Archeology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, Summer 1988.

Harthorn, Sandy, Modern Myths: Classical Renewal, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID, 1987.

Ackerman, Gerald, Contemporary Humanism: Reconfirmation of the Figure, Visual Arts Center, California State University, Fullerton, Vol III, No. 3, p. 38, 1987.

Jencks, Charles, Post Modernism: The New Classicism in Art & Architecture, Rizzoli, New York, NY, 1987.

Pincus, Robert L., “David Ligare at Koplin,” Art in America, April, p. 229, 1987.

Portoghesi, Paolo, Parola/Italia, Galleria Appollodoro, Rome, Italy, 1987.

Gardner, Colin, “The Art Galleries,” The Los Angeles Times, November 21, p. 16, 1986.

Krier, Leon, “Et in Arcadia David Ligare,” Art & Design, London, England, November, p. 41, 1986.

Garris, Laurie, Painting Today: The Present Past, Arts & Architecture Vol. 4, No. 2 & Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 63, 1985.

Glueck, Grace, “When Today's Artists Raid the Past,” New York Times, July 21, p. 29, 1985.

Lucie-Smith, Edward, American Art Now, William Morrow & Co., New York, NY, 1985.

Taylor, Robert, “Postmodernist Medley Reflects Classical Past,” Boston Globe, June 23, 1985.

Metzger, Robert, The Classical Tradition in Recent Painting and Sculpture, The Aldrich Museum of Art, Ridgefield, CT, 1985.

Martin, Alvin, American Realism: 20th Century Drawings & Watercolors, Harry N. Abrams, New York, NY, 1985.

Cooper, James F., “Ligare Leads Aesthetic Revival,” New York City Tribune, April 19, 1985.

Ligare, David, “David Ligare,” American Artist, September 1984.

Zimmer-McKelvie, Kathy, “The Visual Time Machine: David Ligare and Jon Swihart,” Visual Art Magazine, Summer, p. 33, 1984.

Cohen, Ronnie, “The Symbolist Renewal,” Drawing, Vol. VI, No. 3, September 1984.

Plous, Phyllis, A Heritage Renewed: Representational Drawing Today, University Art Museum, Santa Barbara, CA, 1983.

Rose, Barbara, American Painting 1900–1982, National Pinakothiki, Athens, Greece, 1982.

“Visions of California, The Art of the State,” New West Magazine, January, p. 56, 1981.

Spurlock, William, Photo Realist Painting in California: A Survey, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, 1980.

Spurlock, William, America and Europe: A Century of Modern Masters from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection, Australian Gallery, 1979.

Brewer, Donald, Reality of Illusion, Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO, 1979.

Clothier, Peter, David Ligare, Andrew Crispo Gallery, New York, NY, 1976.

Battock, Gregory, Super Realism: A Critical Anthology, E.P. Dutton, New York, p. 284, 1975.