SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
Mark Kostabi, born in Los Angeles in 1960 to Estonian parents, studied drawing and painting at California State University, Fullerton. Moving to New York in 1982, he joined the East Village scene and developed a media presence that questioned the transformation of art into a commodity.
His faceless figures inhabit unreal spaces, navigating romantic relationships, solitude and everyday technology. In 1988 he founded Kostabi World, a collective studio where assistants and idea-makers contribute to producing paintings. This working method places authorship at the centre of his practice. Also a composer and pianist, Kostabi has designed record covers, including Use Your Illusion for Guns N’ Roses. Establishing a second home in Rome in 1996 strengthened his connections with Italy.
This profile brings together identity references for Mark Kostabi and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
Piguet · Germann · Dobiaschofsky
References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.
Oil on canvas
Escape artist"
huile sur toile
Catalogue period : 2015-06-17
Published result : 800 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 1000–1500
View the lot at the auction house ↗
Oil on canvas
Electric Pandora, 1992
Öl auf Leinwand.
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗Watercolour
Sitzender Mexikaner.
Aquarell
Date to be documented
Published result : 300 CHF
Fees not specified in the available data
Estimate : CHF 500
View the lot at the auction house ↗These references are shown separately because of their attribution or lot composition. Each record states the reason.
Farbkreide-Zeichnungen.
2 Blätter: Ohne Titel, 1988
Farbkreide-Zeichnungen.
Lot groupé — prix global
Date to be documented
Group lot — total price
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated :
Recently enriched profiles
Wolf Kahn (1927–2020), born in Stuttgart, left Germany as a child, reached England and joined his family in New York in 1940. After studying with Stuart Davis and Hans Hofmann, becom…
3 auction referencesHeinrich Hoerle was born in Cologne in 1895 and died there in 1936. Following beginnings shaped by Expressionism, he participated in the city's Dada activity and developed a close as…
3 auction referencesFranz Krüger (1797–1857), born in Großbadegast and deceased in Berlin, was a German painter, draughtsman and lithographer particularly known for portraits and horses. Trained by Carl…
4 auction references