WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Mel Bochner

Mel Bochner

1940–2025

WA-00003835

Pittsburgh, United States

Conceptual ArtContemporary

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

151

Works in Collection

215

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

100%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ1485390

MoMA

Field Verification (7 fields)

4 cross-verified · 3 single-source

DeceasedWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Death yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
LocationArtsy + Gallery· 85%✓
NationalityArtsy + Unknown· 85%
Primary mediumUnknown· 20%
BiographyUnknown· 20%

Source Registry (4)

Gladstonehttps://www.artsy.net/artist/mel-bochner
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Christies-Artsyhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/mel-bochner
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/625
Tier 1 · Institutional92%
Paula-Cooper
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred60%

About

Why this artist matters now

No biography available for Mel Bochner yet.

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Conceptual Art

Medium

—

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate

Canonical record

Artworks (151)

The Joys of Yiddish

2014 · Screenprint on felt mounted on aluminium

Sheet: 160 × 134 cm (63 × 52 13/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Know What I Mean?

2013 · Etching and aquatint

22 1/4 × 30 1/4 in. (56.5 × 76.8 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

2013 · Etching and aquatint

22 1/4 × 30 1/4 in. (56.5 × 76.8 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Do I Have To Draw You a Picture?

2013 · Etching and aquatint

22 1/4 × 30 1/4 in. (56.5 × 76.8 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Blah, Blah, Blah

2009 · Color monoprint, with engraving and embossment, in oil paint on hand-stained handmade paper

Image/plate/sheet: 31.2 × 23.6 cm (12 5/16 × 9 5/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Blah, Blah, Blah

2009 · Color monoprint, with engraving and embossment, in oil paint on hand-stained handmade paper

Image/plate/sheet: 31.5 × 23.2 cm (12 7/16 × 9 3/16 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Language is Not Transparent

1999 · Watermarked translucent abaca on black cotton

Sheet: 40 × 30 in. (101.6 × 76.2 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Child's Play 1

1996 · Paint on seventy-two wooden blocks

13.3 × 13.3 × 71.1 cm (5 1/4 × 5 1/4 × 28 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Primer (Twenty-One Demonstrations from A Theory of Sculpture [1969-1972])

1995 · 21 screenprints and a colophon

Length: 11 1/4 in. (28.6 cm) Width: 8 1/4 in. (21 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

12” Plate

1994 · Aquatint in black on ivory wove paper

Plate: 22.6 × 30.3 cm (8 15/16 × 11 15/16 in.); Sheet: 55.7 × 45.7 cm (21 15/16 × 18 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Not Ttitled (DSO3)

1994 · Gouache on eight sheets of paper

18 1/8 x 36 3/4" (46.4 x 93.4 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

On Certainty/Über Gewissheit and supplementary suite Counting Alternatives: The Wittgenstein Illustrations

1991 · Illustrated book with seventeen line block reproductions and a supplementary suite of twelve lithographs

book irreg. page 14 3/8 x 12 15/16" (36.5 x 33 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

Counting Alternatives: The Wittgenstein Illustrations

1991 · 12 Color lithographs

Each: 19 15/16 × 14 15/16 in. (50.7 × 38 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Floating World

1990 · Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper

Image/sheet: 33.7 × 47.2 cm (13 5/16 × 18 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Floating World

1990 · Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper

Image/sheet: 33.7 × 47.2 cm (13 5/16 × 18 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Floating World

1990 · Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper

Image/sheet: 33.7 × 47.2 cm (13 5/16 × 18 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Floating World

1990 · Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper

Image: 29.5 × 47.2 cm (11 5/8 × 18 5/8 in.); Sheet: 33.7 × 47.2 cm (13 5/16 × 18 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Floating World

1990 · Color woodcut on cream Japanese paper

Image/sheet: 33.7 × 47.2 cm (13 5/16 × 18 5/8 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

WattsOS

Untitled from the series 4 x 4 x 4

1990 · Screenprint

Composition (irreg.): 45 1/2 x 41 5/8" (115.6 x 105.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Untitled from Floating World

1990 · Woodcut

composition (slightly irreg.): 13 1/4 x 18 7/16" (33.7 x 46.8 cm); sheet: 13 x 18 7/16" (33 x 46.8 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

WattsOS

Fourth Quartet from the series Four Color Quartets

1990 · Four lithographs

irreg. composition 44 15/16 x 44 15/16" (114.2 x 114.2 cm)

plate 27 1/16 x 41 11/16" (68.7 x 105.9 cm)

Museum of Modern Art

Third Prelude

1988 · Lift-ground etching and aquatint on ivory wove paper

45.1 × 30.4 cm (17 13/16 × 12 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

Second Prelude

1988 · Lift-ground etching and aquatint on ivory wove paper

40.2 × 30.4 cm (15 7/8 × 12 in.)

Art Institute of Chicago

View all 151 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

151 published of 209 catalogued · 167 with image

Art Institute Chicago
85 published85 img
MoMA
56 publishedof 114 catalogued81 img
The Met
7 published
Cleveland Museum of Art
2 published
Tate
1 published1 img

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 1)

1 entries · 1 sources

Untitled
1970 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

Artsy

"No thought exists without a sustaining support" (10144902725)

Wikimedia Commons (Instagram fallback)

Relationships

Peers & Context9

Marina Adamsco-exhibited Cecily Brownco-exhibited Peter Doigco-exhibited Carroll Dunhamco-exhibited Chris Ofilico-exhibited Elizabeth Peytonco-exhibited

Movements2

Conceptual Art Contemporary

Collections6

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Art Institute of Chicago Tate Christie's David Zwirner

Institutional

Representation & Collections

Gallery

David Zwirner

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Art Institute of Chicago

In collection

Tate

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Christie's

Background

Education

Carnegie Mellon College of Fine Arts

Visual Arts

Carnegie Mellon School of Art

Visual Arts

Network

Related Artists

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Group Exhibition Unrepeated

2022