Description:

Karl Wirsum (American/Chicago, 1939-2021) , "Frances Faye in Frenzy", 1961, oil and oil crayon on canvas, signed and dated lower center, titled and dated on stretcher, 18 in. x 24 1/8 in., framed Provenance: The artist; Paul McCarron; Terenchin Gallery, Hudson, NY; Private Collection, FL. Condition: Light surface dirt; scattered craquelure; scattered light scratches. Ext. Frame: 19 in. x 25 1/4 in. x 2 in. Note: Karl Wirsum’s stylized approach to figural painting has held an influential role within American underground cultural aesthetics since the mid-1960s. A member of the Hairy Who, an irreverent group of Chicago-based artists who exhibited together from 1966-1969, Wirsum enrolled at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1957 and was the first of the Hairy Who artists to graduate. Wirsum studied with Kathleen Blackshear, an eccentric art historian who mentored Whitney Halstead and was instrumental to the development of the rest of the Hairy Who. Through Wirsum’s friendship with Don Baum, the exhibition chairman of the Hyde Park Art Center, he was invited to become part of the Hairy Who. Baum recommended that Wirsum be included in the small group exhibition that Jim Falconer and Jim Nutt proposed to him, and it was Wirsum who unintentionally coined the name Hairy Who. The six artists of the Hairy Who—Jim Falconer, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Suellen Rocca and Karl Wirsum—decided that the best way to achieve success was to exhibit their work together. As a group they began mounting unconventional displays of bright, bold graphic work in the mid-1960s. Over a period of four years, they transformed the art landscape of Chicago, injecting their new and unique voices into the city’s rising national and international profile. At the time of the group’s first exhibition in 1966, Wirsum had already established a sophisticated, original style. His paintings largely featured central, frontally oriented, often nearly symmetrical figures delineated with strong outlines filled in with unmodulated hues. This vital new kind of figuration maintained a lively dialogue with modernism, popular culture and the viewer. Wirsum synthesized multiple sources of inspiration to create these unique visual statements – a mix of high and low, ancient and modern, East and West and organic and geometric forms. His figures almost inevitably combine a kinetic exuberance with something more sinister in feeling. The work offered here from 1961 perfectly encapsulates these characteristic traits of the artist, while the frenetic color and movement embody its apt alliterative title. Ref.: “Karl Wirsum.” Art Institute of Chicago. www.artic.edu. Accessed Nov. 8, 2021. Smith, Roberta. “Karl Wirsum, Dynamic and Eclectic Chicago Artist, Dies at 81.” The New York Times. June 20, 2021. www.nytimes.com. Accessed Nov. 8, 2021

  • Condition: Condition is NOT stated in the description of the lot. The absence of a condition report does not indicate the lot is free of damage or condition issues. Available Condition Reports will appear as an additional image. Condition Reports and photographs may be requested on items until the Wednesday prior to the auction. Bid accordingly. All sales are final, no returns are accepted on the basis of condition.

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December 9, 2021 1:00 PM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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