My concern with men hanging on museum walls began when I was young and nobody explaining adequately why they were there, imprisoned, for centuries.
I would address this one and that and I still do. Looking for more women, too, on these walls. Clothed.
Kouros, 1945, marble.
Isamu Noguchi, American, 1904-1988, American. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Michael Greenwood at Pett Rectory, 1950, oil on canvas.
Sylvia Sleigh, American born Wales, 1960-2010. Baltimore Museum of Art.
A couch potato
Man Reaching for a Star, 1952, magna on canvas.
Morris Louis, 1912-1962, American. Jewish Museum of Art, NY
The museum notes that this painting, one of seven largely abstract paintings in the artist’s Charred Journal series, was created both in response to the book burnings by Nazis during a time when the American government was seeking to rid itself of Communists, liberals and ‘leftists’. It is one of the few to refer to the artist’s Jewishness.
Six, 1952, tempera on linen stretched over plywood, and detail.
Ben Shahn, 1898-1969, American born Lithuania.
A social realist, much of the artist’s work deals with the conditions of work of working men: low pay, long hours as well as corruption and fraud in certain unions.
Decade, Autoportrait 1964, 1971, oil on canvas, and detail.
Robert Indiana, American born 1928. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington.
This is one in a series of 10 painted in 1971. They are autobiographical. 4 represents 1964 and Coenties Slip is the area in Manhattan where the artist had his studio in 1964.
Train Whistle Blues No 1. 1964, gelatin silver print (photostat).
Romare Bearden, 1911-1988, American. MOMA, NY?
Reclining Man (John F. Kennedy), 1963, oil paint on paper on fiberboard, and detail.
Willem de Kooning, 1904-1997, American born The Netherlands. Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
The Three Brothers, oil on canvas, 1964.
Will Barnett, 1911-2012, American. Philadelphia Art Museum
Untitled (Uncle). 1965, casein tempera on canvas.
Konrad Lueg, 1939-1996, German. On display at the Philadelphia Art Museum in 2016
Felt Suit, 1970, felt, edition 27/100 stamped.
Joseph Beuys, 1921-1986, German. Philadelphia Art Museum
The museum notes that the history of felt (and fat) in the life of this artist goes back to WW2 in which he was shot down over Russia. The artist developed a myth in which his life was saved by a group of Tatars who wrapped him in felt and fat.
These two substances came to stand for him as materials which would aid the artist to heal the hurts of the world.
We are the Revolution, 1972, diazotype with rubber stamp additions, printer unknown.
Joseph Beuys, 1921-1986, German. MOMA, NY
Self-Portrait of Stars, 1973, photograph on transparent plastic.
Michelangelo Pistoletto, Italian born 1933. On loan for an exhibit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 2010.
Abraham and Isaac (In Memory of May 4, 1970, Kent State University), 1978); plaster, cloth, rope, metal and acrylic paint.
George Segal, 1924-2000, American. Jewish Museum, NY
This is a monument to those who died at Kent State in the conflict between students and the state on the war in Vietnam. The artist points up the conflict between generations.
The Critic, 1979, charcoal and white ink on paper.
Honoré Sharrer, 1920-2009, American. Collection of the artist’s family on display at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 2017
Salut Tom, 1979, oil on canvas, four panels.
Joan Mitchell, 1925-1992, American. Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Sir Charles, alias Willie Harris, 1972, oil on canvas.
Barkley L. Hendricks, 1945-2017. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Nogesheek, 1972, tempera on hardboard panel, and detail.
Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009, American. Collection of the family on view in 2017/18 at the Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Head, 1977, oil on canvas.
Philip Guston, 1913-1980, American born Canada. MOMA, NY
Andy Warhol, Facing His Right (Study #15), 1976 , and detail.
Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Views of Meyer Schapiro (1904-1996, art historian), painted plaster, 1977.
George Segal, 1924-2000, American. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY
Half Smile, Nureyev (Study #20), 1977, mixed media, and detail.
Jamie Wyeth, American born 1946. Brandywine River Museum, Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania
Noir, 1978, oil and acrylic on canvas.
Barkley L. Hendricks, 1945-2017. I do not know where I saw this
Philip Pearlstein, American artist born 1924, oil on aluminum cutout, painted front and back.
Alex Katz, American born 1927. Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY.
The museum’s guidance on cutouts: they were initiated by this artist. Cutouts are cropped so that their edges conform to the contour of the subject and are akin to sculptures around which one walks. Behind this cutout, the museum’s windows and the city itself.
The Painter, 1979-80, lithograph, and detail.
Philip Guston, 1913-1980, American born Canada. Philadelphia Museum of Art
A celebrated Abstract Expressionist who returned to figurative work in the late 1960’s because he recognized that the distance between painter and viewer had grown very large.
The artist was excommunicated by the New York artistic community and went to live in Woodstock, NY, never to return to the city. His public welcomed and appreciated his work in this exile.
Brian, the Boy with Four Small Dogs, 1981, colour lithograph.
Margo Humphrey, American born 1943. Philadelphia Museum of Art
One of several figures and scenes of Philadelphia Cornucopia, 1982, mixed media environment. This would seem to be Benjamin Franklin.
Red Grooms, American born 1937. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Untitled, 1982, gouache on Arches Satine paper.
Gilbert Lewis, American born 1945. Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia.
The artist painted this transformation of a friend who acted in drag theater over the space of a dinner in Philadelphia
Portrait of P. Connors, 1983, oil on linen.
Arthur de Costa, 1921-2004, American. On exhibit at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia on loan from a private collection, 2017
Mark Quinn, British born 1964. On view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2018.
The museum explains that this was cast from a mould of the artist’s head and uses 10 frozen pints of the artist’s blood. It is is one of a series of such works exhibited in an environment which is fragile. They mark the stages of the artist’s ageing.
Wanting to Pull the Clouds, 1992, polyester resin and acrylic on canvas.
Sigmar Polke, 1941-2010, German. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Martin, into the Corner, You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself, 1992, cast aluminum, clothing and iron plate.
Martin Kippenberger, 1953-1997, German. MOMA, NY
The Master, 1992, oil on linen, and details. With light interference.
James W. (Bo) Bartlett, American born Georgia (southern USA), 1955. Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia
The tears of this mysterious man are not those of someone who burst into tears. These are seepage tears. They indicate the continuing pain of the struggle towards individual autonomy, coherence and dignity.
Double Portrait (Gay Flag), 1993, oil on canvas, and detail.
Ross Bleckner, American born 1949. The Jewish Museum, New York
Views of Last Conversion Piece, 1994-5, bronze.
Juan Munoz, 1953-2001, Spanish. Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC
Quick Life Painting, 1996, house paint, and detail.
Scott Rigby, American, unknown birth date. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
The Dark Angel, 1995-1996, egg tempera on gesso panel.
George Tooker, 1920-2011, American. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia
Christopher Bucklow, British born 1957. Private collection on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in 2020.
The artist photographs guests only if he has dreamt of them. They are sub-selves, he says, of himself.
He photographs the sun using a multiple pinhole camera made of cardboard. These tiny atoms of the sun join to form a larger body: in this case the artist and filmmaker, Matthew Barney.
Sharpshooter, 1997, watercolour, and detail.
Andrew Wyeth, 1917-2009, American. Courtesy of the Mandville Gallery, Greenville, Delaware in 2017
Untitled (Big Man), 2000, pigmented polyester resin on fiberglass.
Ron Mueck, Australian, born 1958. Hirshhorn Museum, Washington DC
The museum says that the artist said that his model went to sit in a corner while he, the artist, tried to work out what exactly to do. And so he made a model of his model just as he was sitting in the corner. A little more offended and offensive than he really was, the artist says.
Views of Patrick, 2004, foam core, mat board, digital chromogenic prints and polystyrene, and detail.
Oliver Herring, German born 1964. On exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in 2018.
The figure’s pose reprises that of The Thinker (1881) of Auguste Rodin.
The museum explains that the figure was created by overlaying a foam core substructure with photographic details of sections of skin which correspond to the parts of the body being built.
Human statue, 2005, fiberglass, medium density fiberboard, acrylic and oil paint, 2005, and detail.
Frank Benson, American born 1976. Loaned by a private collection in Oslo, Norway to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in 2018
Katrina, 2006, oil on canvas.
Oscar Page, Jr., American born 1943. 76th Juried Show at the Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia
The security of New Orleans was militarized during the Katrina hurricane in 2005.
In 1997, Congress and President Clinton approved the transfer of surplus military materiel into the hands of police.
Military materiel, arms, tactics and body armour have been in widespread use among the police since 9/11. A heavy price is being paid as a result by some North American populations.
The dog, confused, barely sketched in. Both our pets and K9.
James Brown is Dead, 2007, torn and pasted printed paper.
Mark Bradford, American born 1971. MOMA, NY
Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos, 2008, oil on canvas.
Kehinde Wiley, American born 1977. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Bill T. Jones, 2008, black and white polaroid diptych mounted on aluminum.
Chuck Close, American born 1940. On display at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2017/18
Self-Portrait, 5-part, jacquard tapestry, 2019.
Chuck Close, American born 1940 . Private collection on loan to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia in 2017
Frailty and Failing: Smoke Screen 9 and 7, smoke carbon over graphite, 2010.
Diane Victor, South African born 1964. Baltimore Museum of Art, MD.
The child was missing at the time of this work, and the man was incarcerated. The artist used the carbon from a candle to make these drawings. They are not ‘fixed’ and they are as fragile as the lives they represent.
Alios Itzhak, from the series The World Stage: Israel; oil and enamel on canvas, 2011, and detail.
Kehinde Wiley, American born 1977. Jewish Museum, NY
One of 19 portraits of young Israeli men of diverse ethnic backgrounds. This is a man from the Bete Israel: Ethiopian Jews
Views of Paul Dreaming, Vertical, Horizontal, 2005-2012, platinum silicone, clothing, plastic, foam and lawn chair.
Paul McCarthy, American born 1945. On loan from Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in 2018
Master of the Universe, 2010, oil and acrylic on canvas.
Mel Bochner, American born 1940. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Two views of Hahn/Cock, 2013, glass fiber reinforced polyester resin fixed on a stainless steel supporting structure.
Katharina Fritsch, German born 1956. On loan in 2017 from the Glenstone Museum, Potomac, MD to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
M7, 2015, graphite on black mat board, and detail.
Toyin Odutola, American born Nigeria, 1985. Philadelphia Museum of Art
Anthony Bowers, American born 1984. Woodmere Art Museum
Queen for a Day, oil on canvas, 2018.
Collin Cousart, Batchelor of Fine Arts graduate at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia in May 2018
Keep Distance, 2018, oil on canvas.
Binglin Li, Master of Fine Arts graduate, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, Philadelphia in May 2018
Two views of Action 105: An Israeli soldier points his gun at the Palestinian youth asked to strip down as he stands at a military checkpoint at the separation barrier at the entrance at Bethlehem, March 2006.
Handcarved, polychromed limewood, glass eyes and concrete plinth.
Reza Aramesh, British Iranian born 1970. Loaned by the artist and his New York gallery to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY in 2018
Philadelphia Mural Program: a mural in the city of his birth which disappeared behind new building after 2011
The Apple Guy, 2010, oil on linen.
Robert Jackson, American born 1964. Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington.
References are to Magritte, Van Gogh, Gaugin and Jamie Wyeth
Mandingo/DON’T TREAD ON ME, 2018, acrylic, oil pastel, airbrush and spray paint on canvas.
Pat Phillips, born 1984 UK, lives in the US. Loaned by the artist to the 2019 Whitney Biennial, NY.
Don’t Tread On Me began during the American Revolution as a rattlesnake design on a flag. It has been adopted by various libertarian and political groups.
Philadelphia Mural Program; painted in 2006 by Michael Webb as a tribute to trades and labor. Spring Garden Street near 12th Street, Philadelphia. 2015. Overpainted in 2019/2020.
Achille (epoch), aquatint, 2015.
Julie Mehretu, American born Ethiopia 1970. MOMA, NY.
A whole new generation come to bother Achilles as if Cy Twombly were not enough.
Suggested Occupation 2016 (#?), charcoal with pastel on paper with wood frame.
Kyle Thurman, American born 1986. Whitney Museum of (North) American Art on display during the 2019 Biennial.
Reacting to a suggestion of a possible occupation.
The Nonconformist, 2017-2019, archival inkjet print mounted on aluminum.
Lucas Blalock, American born 1978. Whitney Biennial 2019, NY
Tableau (preparing), 2017, watercolour on canvas, three panels.
Silke Otto-Knapp, German born 1970. MOMA, NY
American Dream, 2017, digital composite, and detail.
James Morton, American born 1942. Loaned by the artist to the Woodmere Museum of Art, Philadelphia for the Juried Show of 2018.
The artist, who is self-taught, is commenting on the dream endlessly deferred.
Colin Kaepernick is depicted center right kneeling. He is still under ban.
Stills from an animation on high-definition video with sound and colour, National Anthem, 2018.
Kota Ezawa, born Germany in 1969, lives in the USA.
Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, in 2016, started the practice of kneeling during the playing of the national anthem to protest the shooting by police of unarmed black men. He has been heavily sanctioned but his gesture has been adopted by other players.
Lump, Fall 2019, ink and gouache on paper.
Barrett Capistran, American born 1996. Loaned by the artist to the Woodmere Museum’s Juried Exhibition in 2021, Philadelphia
Spider in His Peaceable Kingdom, 2019, oil on panel.
Corinne Dieterle, American born 1952. Woomere Museum of Art, Philadelphia 2021 Juried Exhibition.
Fairmount Park is a large natural reserve on both sides of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. The artist explains that Spider played in Fairmount Park when he was a child. Today he lives in a tent on the west bank of the River.
A Peaceable Kingdom being a reference to one of the most famous North American paintings: of both autumn in south-eastern Pennsylvania and the hoped for polity of William Penn’s Holy Experiment painted more than 60 times by Edward Hicks, 1644-1718
The Farm, 2018, acrylic, oil pastel, airbrush, and spray paint on canvas, and sneakers.
Pat Phillips, born 1987 UK, lives in the USA. Loaned by the artist to the Whitney Biennial, 2019, New York
President Trump Becomes a Wonder Woman, Unifies the Country and Fights Rocket Man, 2017, acrylic on canvas.
Peter Saul, American born 1934. Loaned by a private collector to the New Museum, NY in 2020
Untitled, 2019, oil on canvas.
Jennifer Packer, American born 1984. Whitney Biennial 2019, New York
Suits, 2020, mixed media collage on wood panel.
Mikel Elam, American born 1964. Woodmere Museum, Philadelphia 2021 Juried Exhibition.
This is a masterful painting of a way of being widespread in our corporations and institutions: the deadness entailed in the requirement for total obedience to hierarchical values.
Here, the man on our right is Numero Uno. The others are henchmen, yes-men, implementors of the word from Numero Uno.
Te Llevo (I Carry You), oil on canvas.
Esai Alfredo Figueroa Ruiz, Bachelor of Fine Art in 2020 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. No other information
La Pesadilla, (The Nightmare) “The light clouded their minds”, 2020, oil on canvas.
Esai Alfredo Figueroa Ruiz, Bachelor of Fine Art in 2020 at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia. No other information
Fly, Black boy, FLY’ ,Oil, acrylic on canvas, 2020.
Jerrel Gibbs, American born 1984. From the artist’s website
Bill T. Jones, 2008, black and white polaroid diptych mounted on aluminum.
