Steve Kaufman

Steve Kaufman was born in 1960 in the Bronx, New York. Kaufman was the middle child, surrounded by an extended family, many of whom were painters and sculptors that were a significant influence on him and his views on art. His father died when he was four years old. His mother painted high fashion oils on canvas, and he was taught sculpting by his uncles. Kaufman commented on his family, "They taught me that to be an artist is to be always changing. So I tried all different forms of art and today I have 15 different styles that I work in. Art should always be about changing. A lot of artists will work in one medium their whole career, but I didn't want to ever get bored. I was taught that canvas is not the only thing to paint on." At the age of eight, he was sponsored by a Jewish temple in the Bronx, and held his first one-man art show at a Bronx bank, presenting images that were later donated to the Museum of Jewish Heritage. In 1975, Kaufman participated in a group graffiti art show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. ==Career==

1980s By the time he was 16, Kaufman was going to Studio 54 and associating with people from the 1970s New York City art community. Kaufman created the graphics for NBC's Saturday Night Live. Kaufman graduated from SVA with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and held art shows in London. for the 1996 Olympics. For the first time, Ali signed a limited edition with both his Muslim name (Muhammad Ali) and his given name (Cassius Clay). Among Kaufman's more recognizable images were Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Sammy Davis Jr., Al Pacino, Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay), President Barack Obama, Jay Leno, John Travolta, mobster John Gotti, Beethoven, Napoleon and such icons of Americana as the $100 bill, Coca-Cola images, and artwork for the Campbell Soup Company. ==Declining health and death==

Kaufman suffered a series of debilitating strokes beginning in 2004, dying of a heart attack in Vail, Colorado, on February 12, 2010, as he prepared for an art show. "If I stop doing shows, I might as well stop living. This is what I live for," Kaufman had once stated. "I had a great life, so please don't cry for me. I've had the life of 100 men," he wrote. ==Legacy==

When Steve Kaufman died in 2010, he left his licensing rights to Diana Vachier. Diana Vachier went on to carry Steve's legacy with "American Pop Art Inc." and "Steve Kaufman Art Licensing LLC", collective which features works from Steve Kaufman, as well as other prominent artists. The Steve Kaufman Catalogue Raisonne, Volume 1 has been released. Additional volumes will be released as additional artworks are authenticated . ==Honors and museums==

Since his death, Steve Kaufman's artwork has appeared in several television programs, art tourism hotels, and a number of international exhibitions including: • "Writing as an Image, Writing within an Image" (2012) at the Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art in northeastern Slovakia, and located in the hometown of Warhol's parents. This exhibition featured more than 150 works by Andy Warhol, plus works by Warhol's colleagues Steve Kaufman, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, and Jean-Michael Basquiat. • "This is POP ART!" (2012) at El Museo de Pasión de Valladolid, España (The Museum of Passion in Valladolid, Spain), which featured works by Steve Kaufman, Keith Haring, Robert Indiana, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Andy Warhol. • "Pop Art In Trieste: Steve Kaufman, the Former Assistant to Andy Warhol" (2013) at the Palazzo Costanzi in Trieste, Italy, an exhibition in collaboration with the municipality of Trieste and dedicated in its entirety to the late artist Steve Kaufman. More than 13,000 visitors came to see this exhibition, which featured 30 works from notable collections. • "Pure Pop Art" (2013) at the Marcos Valcárcel Cultural Center in Ourense, Galicia, Spain, an exhibition that featured works by artists Andy Warhol, Steve Kaufman, Roy Lichtenstein, Keith Haring, Robert Rauschenberg, Mel Ramos, Pietro Psaier, and Robert Indiana. • "Icons of Pop Art, Then and Now" (2013–2014) at the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari in Modena, Italy, a convergence of vintage sports cars with contemporary art. This exhibition, inspired by artist Steve Kaufman's 2006 series of Ferrari paintings, features approximately 40 works by Steve Kaufman, Andy Warhol, Roy Litchenstein, Russell Young, Burton Morris, and Romero Britto. • In 2014, the honorary portrait "Mozart State II" painted in 1997 by Steve Alan Kaufman was added to the Permanent Collection at the Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum, the official Mozart museum and residence in Salzburg, Austria. Steve Kaufman is the first American artist to achieve this prestigious honor. ==References==