Joan Brown
Untitled (Bird), 1964
oil on canvas
22 x 26 in
55.9 x 66 cm
55.9 x 66 cm
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In this small and powerful painting, Brown presents a small bird staring back at us from a perch outside a high-rise window. Behind our visitor we can see the grid...
In this small and powerful painting, Brown presents a small bird staring back at us from a perch outside a high-rise window. Behind our visitor we can see the grid of windows from city buildings across the street, a shadow from a tree or looming skyscraper darkens the right side of the scene, and in the upper left corner we catch perhaps a glimpse of descending fog.
As a student of Elmer Bischoff, in the 1960s Brown was discovering new ways of executing figurative painting. Like many of her works from this period, this heavily impastoed — almost carved — canvas reveals the physicality and geometry that make up a picture.
As a student of Elmer Bischoff, in the 1960s Brown was discovering new ways of executing figurative painting. Like many of her works from this period, this heavily impastoed — almost carved — canvas reveals the physicality and geometry that make up a picture.