Biography
BLADE, born in the Bronx as Steven Ogburn, began painting graffiti in 1972. He was known for his whole-cars and has painted more than 5,000 trains in his career. His “Mainstreams” painting was done in spray paint and marker on canvas in 1990 as a response to other artists moving away from traditional graffiti lettering. The man who earned his title as “the King of Graffiti” exhibited his first works on canvas in a European art show in 1981 and was featured on the cover of the Sotheby’s catalog in 2005 — the first living artist to do so since Andy Warhol. BLADE’s work often transfers graffiti’s charismatic characters and overlapping 3D letters to canvas and remains recognizable for its ’70s-era color palette and abstract imagery.
Track Blade
Get notifications when works come to auction, and access market analytics
Create Free AccountAlready have an account? Sign In
Professional documentation gives you clarity, portability, and confidence in your collection.
Learn why collectors document their holdings online
Your collection, accessible anywhere
Access your collection from any device with our cloud-based platform. Native mobile apps provide seamless synchronization and offline browsing, ensuring your collection data is always at hand.
Biography
BLADE, born in the Bronx as Steven Ogburn, began painting graffiti in 1972. He was known for his whole-cars and has painted more than 5,000 trains in his career. His “Mainstreams” painting was done in spray paint and marker on canvas in 1990 as a response to other artists moving away from traditional graffiti lettering. The man who earned his title as “the King of Graffiti” exhibited his first works on canvas in a European art show in 1981 and was featured on the cover of the Sotheby’s catalog in 2005 — the first living artist to do so since Andy Warhol. BLADE’s work often transfers graffiti’s charismatic characters and overlapping 3D letters to canvas and remains recognizable for its ’70s-era color palette and abstract imagery.
Track Blade
Get notifications when works come to auction, and access market analytics
Create Free AccountAlready have an account? Sign In
Professional documentation gives you clarity, portability, and confidence in your collection.
Learn why collectors document their holdings onlineYour collection, accessible anywhere
Access your collection from any device with our cloud-based platform. Native mobile apps provide seamless synchronization and offline browsing, ensuring your collection data is always at hand.