| Maker(s): | Gillespie, Gregory Joseph
| | Culture: | American (1936 - 2000)
| | Title: | Royal Couple
| | Date Made: | 1986
| | Type: | Print
| | Materials: | Hand-colored lithograph on smooth white paper
| | Place Made: | United States
| | Measurements: | sheet: 16 7/8 in x 10 15/16 in; 42.9 cm x 27.8 cm; image: 13 13/16 in x 10 1/2 in; 35.1 cm x 26.7 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | dedication, signature and date in pencil along bottom: To Muriel & David Greg Gillespie 1986
| | Accession Number: | SC 2012.1.10
| | Credit Line: | Gift of The Pokross Art Collection, donated in accordance with the wishes of Muriel Kohn Pokross, class of 1934 by her children, Joan Pokross Curhan, class of 1959, William R. Pokross and David R. Pokross Jr. in loving memory of their parents, Muriel Kohn Pokross, class of 1934 and David R. Pokross
| | Museum Collection: | Smith College Museum of Art
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Label Text:
“Life: a crazy mixture of the astoundingly beautiful, the hilarious and the horrifying – and every nuance in between.”
– Gregory Gillespie
Gregory Gillespie is best known for his realist oil paintings. However, he also produced a number of what he described as “weird works.” These often found a place reproduced in the backgrounds of his realist paintings, as a work of art on the wall of a still life, or in one of his many self-portraits. By incorporating these small idiosyncratic works into his oils, they take part in a subconscious dialogue among the other odd or mundane objects represented in the painting.
Royal Couple is one such “weird work.” Reminiscent of Picasso’s surrealism, Royal Couple demonstrates Gillespie’s playful side. Two odd crowned figures stand naked in a Roman coffered arena proudly displaying their private parts, which are emphasized by the constricting ornate stockings of the woman and the strange corset worn by the man. This humorous scene invokes the fairy tale The Emperor’s New Clothes, but it could also be seen as a lewd interpretation of Adam and Eve.
While not overtly religious, Gillespie did grow up in a dysfunctional but strict Catholic household. Renouncing his faith later in life did not take away his tendency to address religious themes. If anything it seemed to have made his search for meaning more profound.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2012.1.10 |
