Beschreibung:

Glenn Brown I do not feel embarrassed at attempting to express sadness and loneliness 2001 Oil on panel. 24 x 18 1/2 in. (61 x 47 cm). Signed, titled and dated “Glenn Brown ‘I do not feel embarrassed at attempting to express sadness and loneliness’ May 2001” on the reverse.
Provenance Patrick Painter Inc., Santa Monica Exhibited Santa Monica, Patrick Painter Inc., Glenn Brown October 20 – November 17, 2001 Literature V. Breuvart ed., Vitamin P, New Perspectives in Painting, London New York, 2002, ill. no 3, p. 51 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay The current lot, I do not feel embarrassed at attempting to express sadness and lonleliness, is a beautiful portrayal of the main themes of Glenn Brown’s oeuvre: art historical appropriation, portraiture, decay, and exquisite paint application. The painting is Brown’s reinterpretation of a late Van Gogh still life. Though it at first seems to be simply an image of flowers in a vase at first, upon further inspection, the viewer can make out the features of a face. The face is not an idealized version but composed of wiggling pink and predominantly green lines. For him the “green lines of paint representing the skin describe, like the other works, a sad world made of paint.” His technique is remarkable: he uses a fine squirrel-hair brush to create the intricate lines of brushwork and layers the canvas with thin glazes to create a sublimely smooth surface. Read More