Description:

Robert Remsen Vickrey (American/Florida, 1926-2011), "Comma", 1960, egg tempera on masonite, signed lower right, partial "Midtown Galleries, A.D. Gruskin, Director, NY" label with artist and title and pencil-inscribed "Midtown" en verso, 25 3/4 in. x 39 3/4 in., framed. Provenance: Private Collection, Shreveport, LA. Note: Robert Remsen Vickrey was a leading figure of the magic realism school who mastered the difficult technique of egg tempera painting while a student at Yale. In the 1950s and 60s, Vickrey was a prominent artist, exhibiting in the Whitney Museum’s annual exhibitions showcasing contemporary art. During this time, he also received dozens of portrait commissions for the cover of Time magazine. Not only did Vickrey excel at the technicality of the egg tempera medium, he became an expert on it, writing two books on the subject. Vickrey’s paintings combine realism and surrealism in city scenes, often depicting children, with his own as models. In the obituary of the artist, the NY Times specifically mentions the painting offered here, "Comma," dating to 1960, as an example of his technical skill since he painstakingly painted 4,000 individual bricks in the wall in the background. The composition shows a young boy seated on a wooden crate holding an American flag, his back to the viewer. The title refers to the comma painted on the brick wall in the background. Ref.: Grimes, William. “Robert Vickrey, Magic-Realist Painter, Dies at 84.” New York Times Apr. 20, 2011: B18.

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February 11, 2017 10:00 AM CST
New Orleans, LA, US

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