%C2%A9 Estate Larry Rivers %2F Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society %28ARS%29%2C NY
The Studio, 1956
Larry Riversexpand_more
Oil on canvasexpand_more
The John R. Van Derlip Fundexpand_more 63.15
Not on Viewexpand_more
Although influenced by the Abstract Expressionists, as this painting's size and gestural style reveal, Larry Rivers remained committed to portraying recognizable figures. Here he depicts a nude African-American woman and also friends and family (from left to right: the poet Frank O'Hara; Rivers's sons, Joseph and Steven; and his mother-in-law, Berdie). Rivers himself appears in the pinned-up drawing at the upper right.
This work refers to a masterpiece of a century earlier, The Painter's Studio, by the French realist painter Gustave Courbet. Like Courbet, Rivers examined his own artistic role and motivations by portraying his studio. The African-American woman holding a banner with the half-erased legend "Liberty" is an allusion to contemporary social and political problems.
Details
- Title
- The Studio
- Artist Life
- 1923 - 2002
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 63.15
- Curator Approved
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© Estate Larry Rivers / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY