Aaron Anderson
Specialist, Head of Sale
Lot 6¤
Stephen Greene(1917-1999)Untitled 29 x 11 1/4in (73.7 x 28.6cm)
19 November 2019, 16:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$8,200 inc. premium
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Stephen Greene (1917-1999)
Untitled
signed 'Greene' (lower left)
oil on canvas
29 x 11 1/4in (73.7 x 28.6cm)
Painted circa 1946.
signed 'Greene' (lower left)
oil on canvas
29 x 11 1/4in (73.7 x 28.6cm)
Painted circa 1946.
Footnotes
Provenance
The artist.
The Estate of Hollis MacLure Baker.
City Antiques, Grand Rapids, Michigan, (probably) acquired from the above.
Acquired by the present owner from the above.
The present lot is closely related to Stephen Greene's painting The Mourners, painted in 1946, and is possibly a study for this work. Many of the elements included in each work appear almost identical, especially that of the angel soaring overhead. He made a significant change in The Mourners, however, by not including the weeping Magdalen figure and by depicting his figures in more contemporary dress. The striped shirts of the figures in The Mourners is reminiscent of the uniforms worn by those imprisoned in Nazi extermination camps. One of Greene's chief concerns at this stage in his career was how to address the tragedy of the Holocaust through his work. Stylistically, the painting reflects his love of Piero della Francesca, an artist he learned to admire through the teachings of his mentor, Philip Guston, at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.