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Lot 338
Description:
Noel Rockmore (American/New Orleans, 1928-1995), "Punch and Judy with the Argonauts", oil, acrylic, gold leaf, vent stacks, tubing and mixed media on canvas, signed and dated "87-8" lower left, signed, titled, dated "Oct-'87-mid Mar. '88, New Orleans" and inscribed en verso, 67 1/8 in. x 53 1/2 in.
- Provenance: Provenance: Acquired from the artist, New Orleans, late 1980s; included and reproduced in the exhibition catalogue Noel Rockmore: Fantasies & Realities, New Orleans Museum of Art, Curated by Gail Feigenbaum, 1998, p. 31. Note: Noel Rockmore's decision to incorporate the English puppet characters of the anarchist Punch, his cohort Judy, and their baby into his pseudo-realist painting demonstrates his fascination with the themes of decline and mortality. Some of the artist's most significant works are his imaginative creations that effortlessly and effectively mix reality with fantasy. In this work, the juxtaposition of two children's characters linked by vents and tubes to the elongated warped Argonauts illustrates the many complex relationships occurring within the scene. The large central entity grasps two military figures, one of the famed WWI commander Lord Kitchener (who has a cartoon caption stating "I am Lord Kitchener of Khartoum and you will cease this behavior immediately"), the second of General Byng, a WWI figure with connections to Egypt and the Sudan. During the period of this painting's creation, the Iran-Contra Affair was ongoing, and the artist may have been making a statement about the long-lasting effects of war on the world. Rockmore utilized easily distinguished children's characters as foils for his analysis of the chaos of contemporary society.
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September 12, 2009 10:00 AM CDT
New Orleans, LA, US
Neal Auction Company
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