American, b.1941
at least 25 years old. In 2012 Dylan was awarded America’s highest civilian honour, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, by Barack Obama. In 2013, he received France’s prestigious appointment of Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur. In October 2016 an official announcement by Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, revealed that Dylan was to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature ‘for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition’. In 2020, Dylan released Rough and Rowdy Ways, his 39th studio album, to worldwide acclaim. Dylan has been painting and drawing since the early 1960s. His artwork was first publicly displayed on the cover of the album Music From Big Pink by The Band in 1968, and subsequently on his now iconic Self Portrait album cover of 1970. In his 2004 memoir, Chronicles, he writes: ‘What would I draw? Well, I guess I would start with whatever was at hand. I sat at the table, took out a pencil and paper and drew the typewriter, a crucifix, a rose, pencils, knives and pins, empty cigarette boxes. I’d lose track of time completely.... Not that I thought I was any great drawer, but I did feel like I was putting an orderliness to the chaos around.
Bob Dylan is one of the world’s most influential and groundbreaking artists. In the decades since he first burst into the public’s consciousness from New York City’s Greenwich Village folk music scene in the early 1960s, Bob Dylan has sold more than 125 million records and amassed a singular body of work that includes some of the greatest and most popular songs the world has ever known. Dylan’s contributions to worldwide culture have been recognised and honoured with many awards. He received an honorary doctorate of music from Princeton University, New Jersey, in 1970 and another from the University of St Andrews, Scotland, in 2004. President Clinton presented him with a Kennedy Center Honor at the White House in 1997, recognising the excellence of his contribution to American culture. Dylan’s song ‘Things Have Changed’ from the film Wonder Boys (2000) won him an Academy Award in 2001. In addition to winning eleven Grammy Awards, he has achieved six entries in the Grammy Hall of Fame, which honours recordings of ‘qualitative or historical significance’
Photograph: William Claxton
The Deep Focus Collection
2023 sees the release of a brand new collection of four limited edition graphics by Bob Dylan, Deep Focus . The new pieces, which feature images taken from films, are ‘Hideaway Woman’, ‘Prize Fight’, ‘Edge of Town’ and ‘Tango Dancers’. “They try to highlight the different predicaments that people find themselves in,” Dylan explains. “Whether it’s James Cagney or Margaret Rutherford, the dreams and schemes are the same – life as it’s coming at you in all its forms and shapes.” Completed in 2021, the Deep Focus series borrows visual techniques from film and photography, and illustrates how cropping and framing can alter the viewer’s perception of any scene. The title of the series refers to a cinematic technique that communicates narrative through the foreground, middle and background, rather than focusing on one visual plane over another. Dylan’s cinematic references result in evocative, often mysterious compositions suspended between life and theatre, while conjuring a distinctly tangible pictorial experience. Although these new works more prominently depict figures and portraits, much of the iconography that was featured in Dylan’s earlier series The Beaten Path is still recognisable – diners, motels, roadsides and city streets.
Edge of Town Limited Edition Graphics of 295 • Paper Size 44” x 29½” (112cm x 75cm) • Image Size: 38” x 23” (97cm x 58cm)
Hideaway Woman Limited Edition Graphics of 295 • Paper Size 40” x 31½” (102cm x 80cm) • Image Size: 34” x 25” (86cm x 64cm)
Prize Fight Limited Edition Graphics of 295 • Paper Size 40” x 31½” (102cm x 80cm) • Image Size: 34” x 25” (86cm x 64cm)
Tango Dancers Limited Edition Graphics of 295 • Paper Size 44” x 29½” (112cm x 75cm) • Image Size: 38” x 23” (97cm x 58cm)
The Deep Focus Collection
Portfolio Available as Portfolio of 4 Graphics All hand-signed by the artist in graphite pencil
Deep Focus Set of 4 Editions Limited Edition Graphics of 295 • Paper Size 44” x 29½” (112cm x 75cm) • Image Size: 38” x 23” (97cm x 58cm)
Biographical Highlights
Photograph: David Michael Kennedy
Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota on 24th May 1941. He grew up in the mining town of Hibbing and played in a number of rock and roll bands as a high school student. In 1959 he enrolled at the University of Minneapolis but left after his freshman year. The Sixties 1961 In January, Dylan moved to New York City where he visited his idol Woody Guthrie in hospital and performed in the folk clubs of Greenwich Village. Following a performance at New York’s Gerde’s Folk City in September, Dylan received public recognition through a review by critic Robert Shelton in The New York Times. Dylan’s talents were brought to the attention of A&R producer John Hammond and in October he signed a contract with Columbia Records. 1962 In March, Dylan released his first album, ‘Bob Dylan’. 1963 Dylan’s second album, ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’, including songs like ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’ helped establish him as a singer and songwriter. He soon became an important figure in the national folk movement. ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ was released by Peter, Paul and Mary and reached number two in the American music charts in July. In the same month, Dylan performed at the Newport Folk Festival. It was also during 1963 that Dylan became prominent in the civil rights movement, singing at protest rallies with Joan Baez. On 28th August he sang at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the civil rights rally at which Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech. 1964 Dylan felt increasingly constrained by the folk and protest movement and his fourth album, ‘Another Side of Bob Dylan’, released in August 1964, showed a move away from protest songs to ones of a more personal and poetic nature.
1965 Dylan released ‘Bringing It All Back Home’, which included the use of electric instruments and signified his departure from folk music towards rock and roll. In April, Dylan began a tour of Britain and the hysteria surrounding him was captured in the film documentary, ‘Don’t Look Back’ (1965), directed by the filmmaker D. A. Pennebaker. Dylan’s single ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ was released on 20th July and became his first major hit. Five days later he performed at the Newport Folk Festival, backed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, where he showcased his new electric sound and received a mixed response from the audience. In September, Dylan began touring backed by the Hawks – who later became known as The Band. 1966 In April, Dylan began a tour of Australia and Europe, which culminated in a raucous and notorious confrontation between the singer and fans during a concert at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in Britain. On 29th July near Woodstock, New York, Dylan crashed his motorcycle. Although the extent of his injuries was not known, he disappeared from public view for many months. He would not tour again for eight years. 1967 In spring, The Band moved to Woodstock to be closer to Dylan and he recorded with them in the basement of their house. The tracks produced were widely bootlegged and only legitimately released in 1975 as ‘The Basement Tapes’. 1968 On 20th January, Dylan made his first live appearance, following the accident, with The Band at a memorial concert for Woody Guthrie in New York City. 1969 In May, Dylan appeared on the first episode of Johnny Cash’s new television show, singing several songs as duets with Cash. Dylan rejected requests to perform at the ‘Woodstock Festival’ and instead topped the bill at the ‘Isle of Wight Rock Festival’ on 31st August.
1978 Dylan embarked on an extensive tour of New Zealand, Australia, Europe, America and Japan. 1979 In the late 1970s, Dylan became deeply interested in developing more spiritually inspired music based on his evolving studies of the Bible. Two albums rooted in Gospel Music – ‘Slow Train Coming’ and ‘Saved’ – were released in 1979 and 1980. The Eighties 1982 Dylan was inducted into the ‘Songwriters Hall of Fame’ in March 1982. 1985 In July, Dylan contributed vocals for the all-star single, ‘We Are The World’, in aid of African famine relief. On 13th July he appeared, backed by Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, at the Live Aid concert at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. His third book, ‘Lyrics: 1962-1985’, was published and ‘Biograph’, a five-disc retrospective collection, was also released. 1986-1987 During these years, Dylan toured backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In 1987 he toured with backing from the Grateful Dead, which led to the album ‘Dylan & the Dead’ (1989). Dylan also starred in the movie ‘Hearts of Fire’ (1987) directed by Richard Marquand. 1988 In January, Dylan was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’, with an induction speech by Bruce Springsteen. In spring, Dylan joined Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and George Harrison to form the light- hearted group The Traveling Wilburys. They released two well-received albums in 1988 and 1990. Late spring also saw the start of what came to be called the ‘Never Ending Tour’ with a small and evolving band. The Nineties 1990 In January, Dylan received the ‘Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres’, the highest cultural award given by the French Government. He was also included
The Seventies 1970 Dylan left Woodstock and moved to MacDougal Street in New York City. In June he received an honorary doctorate of music from Princeton University, New Jersey. Dylan’s collection of experimental writings from 1966, ‘Tarantula’, was finally published in November. 1971 George Harrison persuaded Dylan to appear at a benefit concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden in New York City in August 1971. 1972 In November, Dylan contributed to the soundtrack of the film ‘Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid’ (1973) directed by Sam Peckinpah. The soundtrack included ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ which has subsequently been covered by over one hundred recording artists. Dylan also made his acting début in the film as a minor member of Billy’s gang. 1973 A collection of Dylan’s lyrics and poetry, ‘Writings and Drawings’, was published. 1974 In January, Dylan and The Band embarked on their first tour in eight years, playing thirty-nine shows in twenty-one cities coast-to-coast in America. A live album documenting this tour, ‘Before the Flood’, was released. 1975 From autumn 1975 until spring 1976, Dylan toured North America with the ‘Rolling Thunder Revue’, which included a changing entourage of artists such as the poet Allen Ginsberg, and singers Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez. Footage of the tour was used in the four-hour film, ‘Renaldo and Clara’, directed by Dylan. Released in 1978, the film met with a mixed response from audience and critics. 1976 In November, Dylan appeared in The Band’s ‘farewell’ concert, which was filmed by Martin Scorsese and released as the film ‘The Last Waltz’ in 1978.
Photograph: John Shearer
week, Sony Legacy released ‘Bob Dylan: The Original Mono Recordings’, a box set which for the first time presented Dylan’s eight earliest albums. In November 2010, a major exhibition of selected limited edition and original graphics from ‘The Drawn Blank Series’ premiered in Tokyo. 2011 On 24th May, Dylan turned 70. The event was marked with numerous symposiums around the world. Dylan, ignoring the hoopla, stuck to the basics and continued touring, playing for the first time in Taiwan, China and Vietnam as well as a sold out European tour. 2012 Besides his usual touring schedule, Dylan completed work on his 36th studio album, ‘Tempest’, released on September 11th, 2012. On 29th May 2012, Bob Dylan received The Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honour. 2013 As well as embarking on his worldwide summer tour, ‘Americanarama’, Bob Dylan exhibited new works from his ‘New Orleans Series’ at the prestigious Palazzo Reale in Milan, the Royal Palace that once held the city’s government, but now hosts major exhibitions including artists Claude Monet and Pablo Picasso. In November 2013, Bob Dylan’s iron works collection ‘Mood Swings’ launched in a major solo exhibition at Halcyon Gallery. 2014 During 2014, Dylan again exhibited with Halcyon Gallery, showing Revisionist Art and Side Tracks, a running series of over 300 prints, each uniquely hand- embellished by the artist. Here he revisits the evocative Train Tracks image from The Drawn Blank Series, re-colouring, re-configuring and re-imagining it, revealing a flicker of his continuing journey, at once repetitive and ever-changing. In October of that year, Simon and
with new re-worked versions, premiered at Halcyon Gallery in London in the summer, receiving huge critical acclaim. A selection of limited edition graphics from the exhibition were released in a select number of UK galleries with many editions selling out immediately upon release. 2009 On 15th April, Dylan aired his 100th episode in the US of his ‘Theme Time Radio Hour’. On 28th April Dylan released his 45th album ‘Together Through Life’ which débuted at number one in the UK album charts, 38 years and five months after his last chart-topper ‘New Morning’ in 1970. This broke the record for the longest gap between solo number one albums in the UK. The album also went to number one in the US, as well as several other countries worldwide. On 12th October Dylan launched his first ever Christmas album – Christmas In The Heart – with all royalties being donated to The World Food Programme and Crisis UK; helping to fight hunger worldwide by providing meals to the needy over the holiday season. On 17th December Newsweek announced their list of ‘Best Albums of the Decade’ with Bob Dylan’s ‘Love And Theft’ coming in at Number 2. 2010 On 13th February, Halcyon Gallery, London launched Dylan’s first ever exhibition of paintings on canvas. In September of 2010, Dylan’s acrylic works on canvas were displayed in a one-man exhibition at Denmark’s National Gallery, the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen. The ‘Brazil Series’ was specifically created by Dylan for the exhibition. On 18th October 2010, Columbia Records released Volume 9 of his ‘Bootleg Series, The Witmark Demos.’ This comprised 47 demo recordings of songs taped between 1962 and 1964 for Dylan’s earliest music publishers, and received universal acclaim. In the same
wrote and starred in the film ‘Masked and Anonymous’, which was released in 2003. 2004 Dylan received an honorary doctorate of music from St Andrews University, Scotland on 23rd June 2004. October saw the publication of the first volume of his three part autobiography, ‘Chronicles: Volume One’, which spent nineteen weeks on ‘The New York Times’ best-seller list. 2005 The film documentary, ‘No Direction Home’, directed by Martin Scorsese, was shown on BBC 2 in Britain and PBS in America on 26th September 2005. Concentrating on the years between Dylan’s arrival in New York City in 1961 and his motorcycle crash in 1966, the film was an international success both with critics and fans. 2006 Dylan’s forty-fourth album, ‘Modern Times’, released in 2006, gave him his first American number one album in thirty years and won a Grammy Award in 2007 for best contemporary folk album. In spring, Dylan began his DJ career hosting the weekly ‘Theme Time Radio Hour’ show for XM Satellite Radio in America and BBC Radio 2 in Britain. 2007 Released in August, the award-winning film, ‘I’m Not There’, written and directed by Todd Haynes, was inspired by the life and music of Dylan. An exhibition entitled ‘The Drawn Blank Series’, which contained re-worked versions of Dylan’s sketches and drawings, opened in the autumn at the Kunstsammlungen Museum, in Chemnitz, Germany. 2008 In April, Dylan received a Special Citation Pulitzer Prize ‘for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power’. A major exhibition of selected works from ‘The Drawn Blank Series’, together
in ‘Life’ magazine’s list of the hundred most influential Americans. 1991 In February, Dylan received a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement. 1992 Columbia records marked the 30th anniversary of Dylan’s first album with an all-star concert at Madison Square Garden, New York City, on 16th October 1992. The concert featured more than thirty artists including George Harrison, Tom Petty, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton and Dylan himself. 1994 After failing to perform at the ‘Woodstock Festival’ in 1969, Dylan made a triumphant appearance at ‘Woodstock ‘94’. ‘Drawn Blank’, a collection of ninety-two sketches and drawings created by Dylan while on a tour of America, Europe and Asia between 1989 and 1992, was published. 1997 Dylan played a concert before Pope John Paul II at the ‘World Eucharistic Conference’ in Bologna, Italy. In December, President Bill Clinton presented him with a ‘Kennedy Center Honor’ at the White House in Washington D.C. 1998 Dylan picked up three Grammy Awards for his ‘Time Out of Mind’ (1997) album, including ‘Album of the Year’; heralding a return to form as a songwriter and performer. The New Millennium 2000 In May, Dylan was awarded the prestigious ‘Polar Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music’. He also wrote and performed the song ‘Things Have Changed’ for the film ‘Wonder Boys’ (2000), directed by Curtis Hanson, which won him a Golden Globe award and an Academy Award the following year. 2003 With producer/director Larry Charles, Dylan co-
paper and accompanied with a corresponding drawing in graphite, also on paper. As Tom Piazza, a celebrated novelist and writer on American music, wrote for the introduction to the exhibition catalogue, ‘Dylan’s restlessly creative mind is never wholly satisfied, and those familiar with these songs will find surprise at many a new turn of phrase. The unexpected couplings of these works and images offer a surprisingly intimatedoor into each song, adding dimension, delight and insight into the artist’s relation to his own work’. In 2019 a landmark retrospective exhibition, Retrospectrum , featuring Dylan’s artistic output to date opened at MAM Shanghai, before beginning a tour that will cover Asia, Europe and the USA. The exhibition, which later opened in Beijing at Today’s Art Museum in July 2020 and Jupiter Art Museum, Shenzhen in December 2020, re-examines The Drawn Blank Series , The New Orleans Series, Mood Swings, The Beaten Path , and works from Mondo Scripto . 2020 In June, Dylan released his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. An international sensation, the album hit the Top Ten in 15 countries, including #1 chart entries in the Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and The United Kingdom. The Guardian called the album a “testament to his eternal greatness,” while the LA Times dubbed it a “savage pulp noir masterpiece.” In November 2021 , Retrospectrum opened at the Frost Art Museum in Miami to widespread critical acclaim. Spanning two floors and set across six vast rooms, Retrospectrum features over 180 acrylics, watercolours, drawings and ironwork sculptures, making it the most comprehensive exhibition of Bob Dylan’s artwork ever seen in America.
Schuster published the massive 960 page edition of Dylan’s LYRICS: SINCE 1962, edited by literary giant Christopher Ricks. The book was an instant success, selling out of its initial run in preorder. Later that year, Columbia Records released the eleventh chapter of The Bootleg Series, the highly anticipated, BASEMENT TAPES COMPLETE. 2015 On February 3, Dylan released his thirty-sixth studio album, SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT, a collection of American standard ballads, many popularized by Frank Sinatra. The album was a critical and popular success around the world entering the charts in the top ten in over nineteen countries. As Andy Gill, in the Independent wrote, the recordings “have a lingering, languid charm, which… help to liberate the material from the rusting manacles of big-band and cabaret mannerisms.” A few days later, Bob Dylan was honoured as the 25th MusiCares Person of the Year at a fundraiser in Los Angeles. The event was the most successful fundraiser in MusiCares history. 2016 From January until March, Face Value, a selection of twelve large portraits, was exhibited at Kent State University Museum, Kent, Ohio, USA. In April, Bob Dylan: The New Orleans Series opened at New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Face Value later made its debut in Germany for the first time in May, at Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, in Chemnitz, Germany. In October 2016, an official announcement by Sara Danius, Permanent Secretary of the Swedish Academy, revealed that Dylan was to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature ‘for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition’. The following month, Dylan’s major exhibition ‘The Beaten Path’ opened at Halcyon Gallery. In these new drawings, watercolours and acrylic works on canvas the artist depicts many facets of the American heartlands. 2018 ‘Mondo Scripto’ opened at Halcyon Gallery in October 2018. The exhibition presented a selection of Bob Dylan’s most iconic songs, handwritten in pen on
Photograph: Randee St Nicholas
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 2021 Retrospectrum, Frost Art Museum, Miami 2021 Retrospectrum, Jupiter Art Museum, Shenzhen 2020 Retrospectrum, Today Art Museum, Beijing 2019 Retrospectrum, Modern Art Museum, Shanghai 2019 Bob Dylan: A Collection of New Original Paintings, Halcyon Gallery, London 2018 Mondo Scripto, Halcyon Gallery, London 2017 The Beaten Path: The Silkscreen Collection, The Halcyon Gallery, London 2016 The Beaten Path, London Halcyon Gallery 2016 Bob Dylan: The New Orleans Series, The New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, Louisiana 2016 Face Value, Kent State University Museum, Kent, Ohio 2016 Face Value, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany 2015 Face Value, Butler Museum, Youngstown, Ohio 2014 Bob Dylan, CAMERIMAGE, Tumult Gallery, Toruń 2014 Face Value, Museum of National History, Copenhagen 2013 Revisionist Art, Gagosian Gallery, New York 2013 Mood Swings, Halcyon Gallery, London 2013 Bob Dylan: Face Value, The National Portrait Gallery, London 2013 The New Orleans Series, Palazzo Reale, Milan 2011 The Asia Series, Gagosian Gallery, New York 2010 The Brazil Series, Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen 2010 The Drawn Blank Series, Accademia Albertina delle Belle Arti, Turin 2010 The Drawn Blank Series, Asahi Exhibition Center, Tokyo 2010 Bob Dylan on Canvas, Halcyon Gallery, London 2009 The Drawn Blank Series, Halcyon Gallery, London 2009 The Drawn Blank Series, Edinburgh 2008 The Drawn Blank Series, Halcyon Gallery, London 2007 The Drawn Blank Series, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Germany
SELECTED AWARDS 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature 2013 American Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Letters 2012 US Presidential Medal of Freedom 2009 US National Medal of Arts 2008 Special Citation Pulitzer Prize 2007 Spain’s Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts 2004 Honorary Doctorate, University of St Andrew’s, Scotland 1997 Kennedy Center Honor 1970 Honorary Doctorate, University of Princeton, New Jersey
All Artworks © Bob Dylan
The images contained within this literature are an artistic representation of the collection. To best experience our art, we recommend you contact your local gallery to arrange a viewing. © Washington Green 2023. The content of this brochure is subject to copyright and no part can be reproduced without prior permission. washingtongreen.co.uk
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