Robert Loughlin “Untitled” Wine Box

ROBERT LOUGHLIN (1949 – 2011) may have been one of the most elusive artists in New York, but his work was everywhere. You might have noticed his signature graffiti of a square-jawed man, The Brute, randomly appearing on doors, signs, and walls all over the city. Like his fellow graffiti artists who emerged during the 1980s, such as Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenning Scharf, Loughlin has now become a collectible name. Once considered outsiders to the mainstream art world, graffiti artists now command top dollar for their work and are shown in museums all over the world.

When he wasn’t making his mark on the city streets, Robert Loughlin still incorporated a similar grittiness into his art. He would ransack antique stores, thrift shops, flea markets, galleries, and estate sales and emerge with treasures that he would use as his canvas. Nothing was sacred: furniture, wood, metal, plastic, glass, textiles, vintage advertising boxes, and even someone else’s paintings.

Loughlin’s work has been called dark, yet luminous and his patrons include some of the biggest names in Hollywood fashion as well as the art world, such as movie director Joel Schumacher, clothing designer Helmut Lang, the fashion house Jack Spade, artist Donald Baechler, and interior designer Thomas Jayne, to name a few.