Lot 324
  • 324

John Currin

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 GBP
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Description

  • John Currin
  • The Grandmother
  • oil on canvas
  • 96.5 by 81.2cm.; 38 by 32in.
  • Executed in 1991.

Provenance

Private Collection, New York
Lennon Weinberg, Inc., New York
Sale, Christie's, New York, Contemporary Art, 15 November 2001, Lot 338
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Condition

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate although the overall tonality is slightly lighter in the original work, where the red hues in the lower right quadrant are less prominent. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There is light wear to all four corners. There is a small horizontal rub mark with associated specks of paint loss towards the upper right corner and a further tiny rub mark towards the lower right corner. There is light wear in several places to the extreme top edge, to the lower third of the right edge and to the centre of the left edge. There is an area of stable drying cracks to the thin top layer of brown paint to the left of the figure's upper back as well as in several other places in the background. There are superficial dust fibres adhering to the surfaces in places. There is no evidence of any retouching when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

"Frumpy schoolgirls, women 'of a certain age', other women, younger but confined to bed – expressing an unbearable melancholy, portraits of happy but already half-jaded couples, plump glamour girls and pin-ups (by definition) titillating with their flashy charms, and last but not least, here and there, scattered in time, one or two portraits of lone men, emaciated and bearded. Between 1990 and 1995, the iconography of John Currin has been alternately, caricaturally proper and acceptable, caricaturally decrepit or old and worn, and last of all, caricaturally naïve, romantic or sensual." (Frédéric Paul, 'Portrait of the Artist in Tears', Exhibition Catalogue, Limoges, Fonds Régional d'Art Contemporain du Limousin, John Currin: Oeuvres/Works 1989-1995, 1995)

 

 

 

John Currin's first one-man exhibition was held at the Andrea Rosen Gallery in 1992. It consisted of small-format paintings depicting older women who were strikingly attractive, and boldly announced the artist's refusal to conform to the convention of the time that equated feminine beauty with glamorous, sexualised youthfulness.

 

Painted a year earlier, "The Grandmother" (1991) proved a herald to the works that he was to exhibit in this first major show. With its exploration of the boundary between beauty and the preconceived notions of its embodiment, it is a powerful example of Currin's ability to elevate the ostensibly mundane and in this way question inherited aesthetic conventions of both art and society.

 

Emerging from an atmospheric, moody background, it is the sitter's face here which Currin chooses to highlight and to which the viewer's gaze is drawn. Although attractive, a closer inspection introduces a more disquieting note – hinting at a character with greater depths and nuances than is apparent upon first inspection. The artist's technique of blurring the boundary of the sitter's body with the earthy tones that surround her, further serves to heighten the brooding mood. In keeping with the generational peg of the title, this work can be perceived as a referential nod at the conventions of historical portrait painting, and as a provocative Memento Mori on the fleeting beauties of life.