Parrot Tulips are just about the best: curves, dips, swoops, acute angles, involutions. On and on for the eager draftsman (me). And rapturous streaky colors. Of course none are blue — that was my own mythology.
Two Parrots, 72”x54”, oil, acrylic, gold leaf, conte crayon on canvas, 2026
#robertkushner #parrottulips
At the beginning. Might have background. Might not.
Parrots are at the very end of tulip season. I wait and wait and, boy, are these worth it! Guiding my paint laden brush is a little like responding to waves while body surfing!
Three Parrots, oil on canvas, 58”x72”
#robertkushner #tulips
Just in time to commemorate the closing of the @dorothybrowdykushner exhibition (in two days!) at @lewallengalleries in Santa Fe, Robert @kushnerrobert uncovered some of his mother’s New Mexico landscapes painted way back in 1941. We are humbled by this full-circle moment! Eighty years ago, young Dorothy was inspired by New Mexico, and now her paintings are inspiring audiences there.
Image 1: Ranchos de Taos church, NM, 11 x 15”, watercolor on paper, 1941
Image 2: Untitled, 12 x 18”, watercolor on paper, 1941
Image 3: Post Office, New Mexico, 11 x 15”, watercolor on paper, 1941
#santafeart #newmexicoart #dorothybrowdykushner #lewallengalleries #forceofnature
Downright amazing!
Walking through these canvases at the opening, I think of the span of my mother’s life (1909 - 2000) and I see all of the fascinating movements that she synthesized into her work. She was painting nature very progressively and full of abstraction. In her lifetime, she appeared in many group shows, but it was hard for a female to break through. It’s 2026 and thanks to Ken Marvel, Director, and Louis Newman, Director of the Modern Art Department, @lewallengalleries in Santa Fe, we did it!
“Dorothy Browdy Kushner : A Force of Nature”
You can view the artworks here:
/show/lewallen-galleries-dorothy-browdy-kushner
Or better yet, please see these works in person in Santa Fe. The show runs through April 18th.
I’ll never stop championing my mother’s work and I hope you can see these canvases from the mid-fifties to the mid-seventies with a fresh, exciting and timeless lens. It’s such a treat to see them in Santa Fe where nature anchors life. Dorothy is thrilled. Thank you.
@DorothyBrowdyKushner #DorothyBrowdyKushner #santafe
My exhibition, “Dorothy Browdy Kushner: A Force of Nature” starts tonight (tonight!) at LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe! Here is my Robert at the gallery. I’m very happy that my art is being recognized in this way. Thank you to all involved!
#santafeart #lewallengalleries #dorothybrowdykushner #forceofnature #modernism
When you have a moment, read this thoughtful essay by Eben Shapiro, who visited my show “I Still ♥️ Matisse” and reflects on influence, borrowing, and the long conversation artists have with the past. He’s right — the idea that “great artists steal” has always resonated with me—not as imitation, but as transformation.
I’ve always drawn inspiration from many sources: textiles, flowers, historical ornament, and artists whose work I admire—from Matisse to the rich traditions of decorative art across cultures. These influences become part of a process of reimagining—where pattern, color, and form evolve into something new.
Read Eben’s full article at this link: /p/great-artists-steal
I Still ♥️ Matisse @DCMooreGallery through Saturday, March 14.
#RobertKushner #PatternAndDecoration #ContemporaryArt #DCMooreGallery
Images:
Image 1: Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Table of Desserts (“La Desserte”), 1640
Image 2: Matisse, Still Life After Jan Davidsz. de Heem’s ‘La Desserte’, 1915
Image 3: Kushner, La Desserte after Matisse after de Heem, 2024 acrylic, oil, conté crayon on linen, 72 x 86 inches
Black and white
Shadows and light
A cycle ends where another begins
On view: ‘I Still ♥️ Matisse’ through March 14 @DCMooreGallery NYC
and
Opening March 13, ‘Dorothy Browdy Kushner: A Force of Nature’. A new show of my mother’s Abstract Expressionist works. A special thanks to @lewallengalleries in Santa Fe for helping me unlock her work stored for over 65 years for all the world to see.
@dorothybrowdykushner
Image 1: Robert Kushner, Three Proteas, oil, acrylic, gold leaf on canvas, 72 x 54”, 2026.
Image 2: Dorothy Browdy Kushner, Rocks on Rocks, casein on board, 40 x 26”, 1956.
Tonight, I’ll be joined by my friend and collaborator, poet Ed Friedman, to discuss my current exhibition I Still ♥️ Matisse.
Perhaps most remarkable, Ed and I have been friends since freshman year at UCSD. That’s a long time — and a long trajectory of milestones and memories to have shared together!
I hope you’ll join us tonight at 6pm for a spirited conversation in art.
DC Moore Gallery
@dcmooregallery
535 West 22nd Street
New York NY
RSVP: [email protected]
Join us Thursday, February 26 at 6pm for Robert Kushner and Ed Friedman in Conversation on the exhibition Robert Kushner: I Still ♥️ Matisse!
Ed Friedman is the author of eleven books of poetry, prose, and collaborations with visual artists. Robert Kushner and Ed Friedman have done several artistic collaborations together, including performances, plays, and books.
This event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP to [email protected]
Thanks to everyone who came to my opening on Thursday @dcmooregallery . It was wild and busy!
...And there were dresses! A special thanks to Ingrid Wu @wettail_official in Guangzhou, China for being inspired by my work and making it possible for it to jump off the canvas and tour elegantly around the room. A special thanks to the models!
Thanks for all the warmth.
I ♥️ Matisse is on view through March 14.
I hope you’ll stop by!
#robertkushner
photos by Dawson Batchelder
Wonderful opening ROBERT KUSHNER LOVES MATISSE at D.C. Moore. 1)the artist in full regalia 2) What Becomes a Legend Most—no longer BlackGlamour, now dress in Kushner 3) the brilliant center of the exhibition: Kushner is inspired by the 1915 Matisse still life. @kushnerrobert
Matisse is a “blue chip” artist, one might say — an artist so recognizable by the masses that he defines a period of modern art and fits logically along the art history timeline between Renoir and Picasso, his contemporaries.
Most people recognize his signature and playful love of line, form and pattern and his use of buoyant color. The reason “I Still ❤️ Matisse” is because I found a still life painting that caught his eye and that he made his (more than once), and then I, just as captivated, tried to make it mine (more than once). It has been a consuming experience out of which a deep relationship with Matisse developed. I had fun. And Matisse had so much fun.
Although I cannot bring you the Matisse and the De Heem paintings, I hope one day we might all find a way to sit together, on view, in contrast and comparison. That’s the uncanny thing about art history.
Opening Thursday, 2/12
“I Still ❤️ Matisse”
6-8pm
@dcmooregallery
February 12 - March 14, 2026
#robertkushner #matisse #deheem
