James Rosenquist is a famous American painter and contemporary graphic artist, an outstanding representative of the pop art art movement.

James Rosenquist achieved widespread recognition early on and was a sought-after artist throughout his professional career. For his huge contribution to American painting, he received many prestigious awards, and his works were constantly exhibited at the largest international exhibitions in different parts of the Earth.

Biography of James Rosenquist

He grew up as an only child in a family of civil aviation pilots.

James’s mother was fond of painting and it was she who instilled in her son a love of drawing. The boy showed a talent for art very early. As a teenager, he received the highest award in a school competition and was accepted to study at the prestigious Minneapolis College of Art and Design. In his free time, he was engaged in painting advertising signs and billboards, fulfilling orders for local merchants.

At nineteen, James Rosenquist entered the University of Minnesota. Two years later he moved to New York and became a student at a prestigious art school in Manhattan. In order not to depend on his parents financially, he worked in the evenings as a driver at a trading enterprise. And then he got a job at Artkraft-Strauss, which was engaged in the manufacture of outdoor advertising items.

Advertising illustration

The talented young man turned out to be a very diligent worker and by the early 1960s he had become one of the leading specialists in a prosperous company. He carried out the most profitable and expensive orders. He created attractive commercial images on billboards in the heart of New York on the famous Fifth Avenue. But after a colleague tragically died in a fall while painting another sign, James quit his job and decided to become a freelance professional artist. By that time, Rosenquist had saved up enough money to rent a studio space and support his own family.

In the summer of 1960, he married Mary Lou Adams, who soon gave birth to his first child, a son, John. The family union lasted fifteen years. In 1987, the artist married again. This time, Mimi Thompson became his chosen one, who gave her husband a daughter, Lily, and lived with him in marriage for almost 30 years until the death of the master.

In 1962, the first personal exhibition of the master’s works took place, which was a huge success. This was the period of the birth of pop art, so the works of the young author were in the center of attention of the public and critics.

Success

Rosenquist’s further professional career developed successfully. Until the early 1970s, he lived permanently in New York. Then, at the invitation of Donald Saff, he began to visit Florida frequently, where he organized a private art school with him. In 1976, the artist created his own studio Aripeka. Several dozen employees constantly worked in the studio to fulfill large orders. He traveled the world frequently and was a welcome guest at international exhibitions, was active on the Board of Trustees of the Tampa Museum of Art, and was active in charitable work over the years.

By the end of his life, he became a recognized master of contemporary art and a very wealthy person.