Henry Darger

American | 1892 - 1973

Henry Darger was an American artist who was born in 1892. His work will be on exhibit at Ricco/Maresca in New York on February 28, 2025. Numerous key galleries and museums such as The Drawing Center have featured Henry Darger's work in the past.Henry Darger's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 13,860 USD to 745,107 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork. Since 2003 the record price for this artist at auction is 745,107 USD for Sans titre, sold at Christie's Paris in 2014. Henry Darger has been featured in articles for Chicago Sun-Times, Hyperallergic and New City Art. The most recent article is Andrew Edlin Explains How the Outsider Art Fair Helped Establish a Market for the Genre written for Observer in February 2025. The artist died in 1973.

Artist's alternative names: Henry J. Darger, Henry Joseph Darger, Jr.

At Auction

Notable Lots

While Inside they Await Developments/They are Cleverly Outwitted...

By Henry Darger

+49%

above mid-estimate

SPANGLED CHILD HEADED BLENGIN. ALL NATIONS OF CHRISTIAN NATURE. ALL ISLANDS OF EVERY SEA. - Henry Darger

SPANGLED CHILD HEADED BLENGIN. ALL NATIONS OF CHRISTIAN NATURE. ALL ISLANDS OF EVERY SEA. ,1940

By Henry Darger

-25%

below mid-estimate

148 At Jennie Richee During fury of storm are unsuccessfully attached [sic] by Glandelinians / 149 At Jennie Richee narrowly escape capture but Blengins come to rescue, double sided

By Henry Darger

+82%

above mid-estimate

VIEW 43 ARTWORKS

Recent Auction Results

Lost in the heart of the enemys territory [...]circa 1930-194065 At Jennie Richee. [...]circa 1950-1960

By Henry Darger

Bonhams New York

Eleven Generals

By Henry Darger

Slotin Folk Art Auction

Untitled (Abbiennian Girlscouts Rangers)

By Henry Darger

+103%

above mid-estimate

Sotheby's Paris

VIEW 33 AUCTION RESULTS

Upcoming Exhibitions

Henry Darger: Utopia / Dystopia

Ricco/Maresca

Chelsea | New York | USA

Feb 28,2025 - Apr 05,2025

Past Exhibitions

The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection

The Drawing Center

Soho | New York | USA

Oct 10,2024 - Jan 19,2025

Trio: Modern Art Collections from Paris, Tokyo & Osaka

The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

Chiyoda-ku | Tokyo | Japan

May 21,2024 - Aug 25,2024

VIEW 68 EXHIBITIONS

Articles

Andrew Edlin Explains How the Outsider Art Fair Helped Establish a Market for the Genre

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Coverage

“ ..Three metres long, this work depicts the opening battle in Darger's saga of a revolt by enslaved children... ”
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Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

“ ..Experiencing Darger’s personal environment through the installation will provide an important link to the man who struggled relentlessly throughout his life to give expression to the polarized spectrum... ”
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Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

“ ..Together, these materials give an intimate glimpse into Darger’s working process and artistic achievements.... ”
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Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago

“ ..Darger plays with these polarities and fabricates an extraordinary “child” beyond nature—capable of defeating bloodthirsty Glandelinians... ”
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Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

“ ..Darger, however, complicates their seemingly cute and innocent bodies with hand-drawn additions of male anatomy—a characteristic of “girls” in Darger’s fictional world that remains unexplained... ”
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Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art