Michael Craig-Martin
MIES VAN DER ROHE CHAIR, 2019
Polished Steel Relief with Spray Paint
21 5/8 x 17 1/8 x 0 1/8 ins
55 x 43.5 x 0.05 cm
Available at VFA
Kids love my work, because I just do what they do. I do a drawing and then I colour it in. And I don’t worry too much about the colours. - Michael Craig-Martin
Michael Craig-Martin (b. 1941) has been one of the most influential artists and teachers of modern and contemporary art. He received a knighthood in 2016, at the age of 75, is a trustee of the Tate Gallery and was given a retrospective at the Royal Academy in London in 2024.
Craig-Martin was born in Dublin, spent his formative years in Washington, D.C., where his father worked for the World Bank, and where Craig-Martin says he was greatly influenced by mid-century America. “The modern world was invented in America in the 1950s;” he said, “I was carried on that wave of optimism and newness.”
Craig-Martin had his heart set on studying at Yale. In 1961, he was accepted to the Arts program, and found himself thrown into a class with young artists like Richard Serra, Chuck Close and Brice Marden. His teachers included Josef Albers and visiting tutor Alex Katz. “‘Once I got to Yale, I found that the art school was a graduate school.” he said, “Me and four or five other undergraduates were thrown in with people who had been at school for years. I just tried hard not to embarrass myself, to hold my own, and take up every challenge thrown at me.”
He not only held his own, but taught his students at London’s Goldsmith College to do the same. He began teaching there in 1973 and had a profound influence on Young British Artists like Damien Hirst and Julian Opie.
“Michael was an inspiration for me and for my whole generation,” Hirst said in an email to Esquire Magazine. “He made us believe that anything was possible, and that there are no boundaries or limits. He encouraged us to be artists and not just make art and wait to be discovered. He’s a great thinker too: he taught us how to live in the present, absorb the past, and invent the future. He’s a great artist himself, and now a great friend.”
Craig-Martin and Julian Opie have exhibited their works together. “Julian Opie was a very interesting student.” Craig-Martin said. “I went to America for a year in 1980, 81. New York was electric, and when I came back I happened to see his Goldsmiths degree show. I could see instantly that his work was absolutely of the moment. Sure enough, within a year there was enormous interest. He was doing what seemed right to him. In the end that’s all you can do.”
After 15 incredible years at our current location, we’re excited to share some big news—Vertu Fine Art is moving to a new home!
Our New Address:
922 Clint Moore Rd, Boca Raton, FL 33487
Our new location features a dedicated viewing room, available by appointment only, designed to provide a more personal and immersive experience with the work.
To schedule your visit or if you have any questions, please call 561-368-4680.
We can’t wait to welcome you through the doors. Stay tuned for opening details, and be sure to stop by and say hello!
References:
Sean O’Hagan. ‘I have taken risks, but Damien is a staggering risk-taker’: Michael Craig-Martin on style, the YBAs and being the great late bloomer of British art. The Guardian. September 8, 2024.
Miranda Collinge. Sir Michael Craig-Martin's Object Lessons. Esquire. September 18, 2024.
Caroline Roux. How I became an artist: Michael Craig-Martin. Art/Basel. September 23, 2024.
