Robert Longo is a defining voice in American contemporary art, known for his hyperreal charcoal drawings that dissect the power of images in a media-saturated world. Emerging from the Pictures Generation of the late 20th century, Longo challenged conventional boundaries between photography, drawing, and political critique. His work captures the tension between spectacle and trauma, compelling viewers to confront the images that shape our collective consciousness.

Study for Grable is part of Longo’s Lust of the Eyes series, which takes its name from a biblical passage warning against the seduction of the visible world. This drawing depicts “Grable,” a U.S. nuclear artillery shell detonated in 1953—the year of Longo’s birth. Rendered with haunting precision, the mushroom cloud is frozen mid-explosion, suspended like a deadly flower. At a modest scale, the work invites intimate reflection rather than distant spectacle.

More than a representation of destruction, this drawing is a meditation on complicity and memory—how beauty and horror intertwine, and how we remain bound to images that both reveal and obscure truth. Longo’s use of charcoal and ink captures the fragility and permanence of devastation, marking this work as a vital commentary on power, violence, and the act of seeing.

Longo’s influence is reflected in the presence of his work in major permanent collections including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum of American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Tate Modern, and the Centre Pompidou. His drawings remain pivotal references for understanding the intersections of image, history, and politics in contemporary art.

Provenance
Galeria Soledad Lorenzo, Madrid
Private Collection, Monaco
Etude PIASA, Paris, 12th April 2010
Private Collection, Europe