- 44
Dana Schutz
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
bidding is closed
Description
- Dana Schutz
- Becky
- signed and dated 9/99 on the reverse
- encaustic on panel
- 21 1/2 by 22 in.
- 54.8 by 56 cm.
Provenance
Gallery 151, New York
Zach Feuer Gallery (LFL), New York
Literature
Jan Avgikos, "Dana Schutz", Parkett, No. 75, 2005, pp. 26-64 (titled Girl).
Condition
In very good condition.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
One of the most celebrated and inventive artists of her generation, Dana Schutz is renowned for depicting expressive figurative images that materialize in absurd visions. This portrait of Becky, a young blonde teenage girl, is an early example of one of the frequently recurring subjects in the Brooklyn-based artist's oeuvre. The youthful figure with her long pigtails and exotic shirt is represented as viewed from outer space or in front of what could be a NASA poster. Nonetheless the young girl with no nose, and a forehead exaggerated by the greasy paint applied with rapid brushstrokes fails to appear pure and innocent but rather grotesque. Schutz's artistic skill creates preposterous images whose compositions still perfectly conform to the classical criterions of the great history of portraiture. The vivid colors of the artist's palette suggest a sense of vitality and irony to the otherwise disturbing character. The sense of absurdity and decay conveyed by Schutz's imaginary situations recall Philip Guston's "symbolically freighted realism." The artist capably plays with the duality between beauty and ugliness with virtuous detachment through her cartoon-like references where unreal horrors naturally fuse with bizarre comedy. In this early painting Schutz has not yet incorporated the social and political themes that she has been exploring in more recent years. Hence with its naïve allure Becky from 1999 leaves the perplexed viewer with a great sense of vitality.