Steve Kaufman

Steve Kaufman (1960–2010) was an American Pop artist who began his career as Andy Warhol's studio assistant at The Factory in the late 1970s, working alongside Warhol on the silkscreens that came to define late-period Pop. Kaufman went on to develop his own bold, hand-embellished silkscreen practice, layering vivid colour blocks and brush-applied accents directly onto the canvas so that every print became, in effect, a unique painting.

He worked with the imagery he had grown up with — Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, the Beatles, Mona Lisa — and was known for the humanitarian programmes he ran from his New York studio, teaching prison inmates and at-risk young people to paint. Kaufman's editions are in private collections worldwide and were exhibited in over fifty museums during his lifetime.