Lift Trucks Art – Featured Artist
Tom Christopher
American painter. Expressionist urban paintings of New York City — bold color, urgent mark-making, the pull of the modern city for over four decades.
Tom Christopher b. 1952 · Hollywood, California
Tom Christopher is a classically trained draughtsman. He received a BFA from the Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California, studying with the legendary Disney animator Ward Kimball and the painter Lorser Fietelson.
After moving to New York in 1981, he went on drawing assignments with Meredith Vieira and John Stossel covering courtroom drama for CBS News. In 1982 he worked as an illustrator for People, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal, as well as courtroom artist for CBS Network News on various cases including John Lennon’s killer.
Although born in Hollywood and steeped in the LA hot rod and skateboard culture, he became obsessed with painting household objects and tools on a Brobdingnagian scale, exhibiting in galleries in the East Village. In 1987, he had what he describes as an epiphany walking around Times Square: “The City exploded in a blaze of expressionistic colors with the brilliant laser white light sculpting the buildings, cabs, messengers and scurrying figures. At once I realized my mission; try and capture the narrative, the beauty and the magnetic pull of the epicenter of this modern urban city.”
Now his subject matter is largely focused on the streets of New York — though calling him a New York painter would be as much a mistake as dismissing Kirchner as a Berlin cityscene painter. His paintings have found a following in Europe, especially Paris, Germany and Tokyo. Working with at-risk kids, he brought these expressionistic colors and large brushwork to the Roseland Ballroom on 53rd St, creating the city’s largest outdoor mural at 225 by 65 ft.
“Monet had his water lilies and Tom Christopher has Times Square.”
— The New Yorker
“Tom Christopher has become to American painting what Count Basie or Duke Ellington became to American popular music.”
— Dr. Louis Zona, Director and Chief Curator, The Butler Institute of American Art
Selected Works
Paintings — 2024–2026
Works available through the Lift Trucks Art studio. Dimensions, medium, and pricing on inquiry. All works include provenance documentation and artist authentication.
Untitled (Motorcyclist)
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
Untitled
About the Studio
Collecting Differently.
Collecting Better.
The gallery system is changing — and the collectors who understand that are building the most interesting collections. Buying directly from the studio is a fundamentally different experience.
01
Meet the Artist. Know the Work.
A studio visit isn’t a sales pitch — it’s a conversation. See work in progress, understand the process and history behind each piece. That knowledge becomes part of what you own.
02
Studio-Direct Pricing.
Art fair booths cost $100,000 or more — and that overhead is built into every price on the wall. Buying directly means you’re paying for the work, not the infrastructure around it.
03
Internationally Recognized Work.
Christopher’s paintings have found a following in Europe — Paris, Germany — and Tokyo, with international gallery exhibitions spanning decades. Acquiring directly means owning work with that international context.
Recognition
What They’ve Said.
The New Yorker
“Monet had his water lilies and Tom Christopher has Times Square.”
Dr. Louis Zona — Butler Institute of American Art
“Tom Christopher has become to American painting what Count Basie or Duke Ellington became to American popular music.”
International · Paris, Germany, Tokyo
Internationally Recognized
Galleries and exhibitions in France, Germany, and Japan — with work that has found a following across Europe and Asia.
Public Work · New York City
Roseland Ballroom Mural
225 by 65 ft — the city’s largest outdoor mural at the time, created working with at-risk youth on 53rd Street.
The Paintings Are Just Part of It.
The studio also shows foundry objects, crucibles, and castings alongside the new paintings. See how the objects and paintings live together.
Collector Inquiry
Studio Visits &
Work Inquiries.
Whether you’re interested in a specific work, want to see the full range, or simply want to come and look — write to us. Studio visits are private, unhurried, and always on your schedule.
Private viewings by appointment — no gallery floor, no pressure
Pricing available on inquiry — studio-direct
Full provenance documentation with every acquisition
Shipping and installation coordination available
3 East Cross Street (Rt. 22)
Croton Falls, NY
By appointment
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