Collection: Charles Bragg (1931-2017) Artist Biography and Art Gallery Collection

Charles Bragg  (1931 - 2017) was an American artist and author, and one of the art world’s best-known satirists. He has been described as a spiritual descendant of Bosch, Brueghel and Daumier, all of whom were known for lampooning the foolish elements of society. The works of Charles Bragg often feature celebrities or ordinary people depicted in a humorous, and sometimes macabre fashion, across his sculptures, stories, prints, and paintings. “You observe the human race and the world, and if you don't get a kick out of it I think you're missing something,” Charles Bragg once mused.

Charles Bragg was born in 1931 in St. Louis, Michigan, where he spent his childhood traveling with his parents who were vaudeville performers on the road. He initially followed in their footsteps as a performer, and attended the High School of Music and Art in Harlem before moving to California and attempting a career in stand-up comedy. His early visual art stemmed from commissioned portraits, and over time he began to inject his own political views in sharp satires of society at large, which brought him acclaim and critical success. He was the recipient of numerous honors, notably including the Gold Medal from the National Society of Illustrators as well as the Award of Merit from the Art Directors Guild of New York. Bragg's works have been showcased in museums and exhibits around the world, and he has had work commissioned by Playboy magazine. In 1986, PBS made a documentary about him called "Charles Bragg - One of a Kind." One of Bragg's lithographs, The Screen Goddess, is featured prominently in the opening scene of the 1992 Robert Altman film, The Player. Today, his works can be found in the collections of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Albrecht Museum of Art in St. Joesph Missouri, the Loch Haven Art Center in Orlando, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, among others. Bragg died on January 9, 2017 at the age of 85.