BLOUNT GALLERY
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Walt Kuhn
(New York, New York, 1877 - 1949, New York, New York) Gourds 1937 Twentieth Century Oil on canvas 30 in. x 40 in. (76.2 cm x 101.6 cm) Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, The Blount Collection 1989.0002.0026 |
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Walt Kuhn
(New York, New York, 1877 - 1949, New York, New York) Clown with Long Nose 1936 Twentieth Century Oil on canvas 40 in. x 30 3/8 in. (101.6 cm x 77.15 cm) Signed and dated, lower right, "Walt Kuhn/1936" Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, The Blount Collection 1989.0002.0025 Kuhn is known for his images of performers in costume, particularly circus performers. The narrative content of "Clown with Long Nose" differs, albeit subtly, from many of Kuhn’s other individual circus performer portraits. The model’s cheerful animation—his wry smile and gesturing hands—distinguish this figure from others in Kuhn’s oeuvre, whose facial expressions are generally flat and affectless. This simple variation changes the painting’s focus from the formal elements of shape, color, and line, to its mood. Multiple interpretations become possible: one can read the model’s painted face as a portrait with an air of human warmth, or more perversely, as an applied mask that hides something sinister. |
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Jack Levine
(Boston, Massachusetts, 1915 - 2010, New York, New York) Election Night II 1954-1955 Twentieth Century Oil on canvas 20 in. x 24 in. (50.8 cm x 60.96 cm) Signed, lower left: "J Levine" Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, The Blount Collection 1989.0002.0027 Jack Levine has commented on American politics throughout his career. The mechanisms of democracy, rife with opportunities for cronyism, have been prime targets, and in 1954 he treated the theme in Election Night (The Museum of Modern Art, New York). Election Night II is a smaller, less detailed variant of the composition. Levine commented in 1989, “Election Night is the Last Supper—and not the last Last Supper by any means. In this scene, however, there are women present, as there almost always are at these political functions. There’s a haughty matron, a tall statuesque woman in mink with large staring eyes. I was trying to arrive at the female equivalent of some of the terrible men I’d been depicting. I have some fat ladies there too, but I have never painted any of them with a bad complexion; they are always glowing.” The canvas depicts the aftermath of an American political campaign, but the figures’ grim faces counteract an otherwise celebratory air. It is unclear if the politician has won or lost; the compressed space creates an oppressive atmosphere that is heavy with corruption and the unwonted influence of the privileged classes |
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Allan Clark
(Missoula, Montana, 1896-98 - 1950, Delta, Colorado) The King's Temptress 1927 Twentieth Century Polychromed mahogony 20 in. x 13 7/8 in. x 7 in. (50.8 cm x 35.24 cm x 17.78 cm) ): Carved on back of base, urc: ALLAN CLARK 1927 Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Association Purchase 1996.0012 "The King's Temptress" is one of three versions of this carved mahogany figure inspired by a 9th to 13th century temple dancer figure from the site at Angkor Wat. In 1925, Clark had travelled in Asia with an expedition from the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, and in the later stages of this tour, around 1927, he visited the famous Cambodian temple complex. Like Clark's other works from this period, the Asiatic elements of this sculpture are primarily superficial. The elaborate headdress, the elongated eyes and the thin, arched eyebrows are characteristic of the Angkor Wat sculptures, but the realistically modeled features of the face and body and the heavy, sensual expression belong to the Western tradition of languorous, decorative nudes. |
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Joseph Hirsch
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1910 - 1981) Daniel 1976-1977 Twentieth Century Oil on canvas 38 in. x 45 in. (96.52 cm x 114.3 cm) Signed, lower left, recto: Joseph Hirsch Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, The Blount Collection 1989.0002.0020 "Daniel" is a modern interpretation of Belshazzar’s Feast, a biblical story of judgment and retribution recounted in the Book of Daniel. In Hirsch’s version, the dissolute king wears a ruffled evening shirt and a blue smoking jacket. Golden goblets reference the spoils from the temple at Jerusalem and the king’s abuse of sacred objects for profane purposes. The courtesan sleeping next to the king symbolizes the licentiousness of his court. The composition focuses on the distracted gaze of the king, as he hears Daniel’s prophetic warning and ponders its meaning. A just-extinguished candle dramatizes the immediacy of the moment, as the smoke, symbolic of destruction, rises toward the hand of the prophet, here literally the prophet of doom. Daniel’s authoritative countenance is juxtaposed with those of the bewildered king and the dozing courtesan. Because the courtesan sleeps, she, like the king, remains blind to her fate. Hirsch thus suggested that man’s doom rests in his lack of awareness. By placing the biblical story in a modern setting, Hirsch conveyed the timelessness of the message: evil will not go unpunished. |
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Guy Pène du Bois
(Brooklyn, New York, 1884 - 1958, Boston, Massachusetts) The Diners ca. 1912 Twentieth Century Oil on panel (wood) 20 in. x 15 in. (50.8 cm x 38.1 cm) Signed, lower right: "Guy Pene du Bois" Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, Alabama, The Blount Collection 1989.0002.0010 "The Diners" dates from early in du Bois’ career. During this period, du Bois was actively writing art criticism for several publications, as well as assisting with the organization of the Armory Show, and thus his paintings were executed as time allowed. While he painted on canvas, during this stage of his career he also painted on wooden panel, which is the support for this work. The subject matter—upper class individuals seen in a public setting—was typical for the artist both in his early painted works and in his drawings. "The Diners" illustrates an important aspect of the artist’s approach to his subject matter; that is the relationship between men and women of the upper classes. In this work, both parties are quite reserved, isolated from both their environment and from each other. The sideways glance of the waiter who stands at the ready reinforces the air of tension in this arrested moment. Compositionally, the isolation of the figures is increased by the reflected light on the surface of the table and the shadow of the support column that falls between them. The stiffness of the figures is further accentuated by the architectural columns that anchor them visually. This cool and dispassionate presentation reflects du Bois’ frequent observation of members of the upper classes as participants in a drama of quiet desperation. |