Ernest Trova artist biography and limited edition prints

Ernest Trova was born in St. Louis, Missouri, where he spent most of his life. He transitioned from being a department store window dresser to becoming a renowned surrealist artist, all without any formal training. His early works were influenced by comics, jazz music, and the technology associated with his father, who was an industrial tool designer. Trova utilized discarded items from his job as materials for his early sculptures and paintings, creating avant-garde designs that challenged the traditional artistic norms of his Midwestern hometown.

His first award-winning piece, Roman Boy, was considered "sexually graphic" and was featured in Life magazine, which brought him to the attention of the emerging Pace Gallery in New York City. Pace would later exhibit his most famous works, Falling Man, a series of metal sculptures depicting "faceless, armless, polished, unsexed" figures inspired by the mannequins he worked with as a window designer. During a time when the status quo was being challenged by the Sixties counterculture, these pieces became iconic reflections of the directionless everyman and became synonymous with the artist himself. Today, St. Louis remains the hub of Trova's work, with Pace Gallery and prominent collectors donating his sculptures to the city's public spaces. His pieces continue to be part of the collections of major museums, including the MOMA, Whitney, Guggenheim, and Tate.