Jerome Paul Witkin
Jeff Davies
1980
Oil on canvas
This painting is currently being displayed in the Palmer museum of art at Penn State.
Excerpt from the Artists Biography: A painter who conveys moral messages in his artwork, Jerome Witkin has "resuscitated narrative painting after the heyday of abstraction." He believes that moral values are as important as formal or aesthetic values ones and "has chosen to make work that deals with human drama." (askart.com)
Jeff Davies is clearly not a rich man, he’s not traditionally a handsome man either, but Witkin has no desire to paint him that way. It is a very honest painting of a well-feed, gruff, middle-aged man; he has a protruding stomach ,which is the first thing you notice, and he is dressed in sloppy clothes. He is the epitome of average, and thus, the ideal subject for a painting that represents humans and our issues.
“Collection Highlights.” Palmer Museum of Art. N.p., 14 May 2009. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
“Jerome Paul Witkin.” Ask Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2010.
"He is well-feed" should read "He is well-fed".
ReplyDeleteToo bad you never knew Jeff. Average, he was not.
ReplyDelete