| Maker(s): | Wiley, William T. | | Culture: | American (1937 - )
| | Title: | Complimentary Shutters
| | Date Made: | 1992
| | Type: | Painting
| | Materials: | acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas
| | Place Made: | United States
| | Measurements: | stretcher: 34 1/2 in x 26 in; 87.63 cm x 66.04 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | inscription, signature, date and title in pencil on verso: 92 . 52P / 32 1/4 x 24 / Wm Wiley / (c) 92 / COMPLIMENTARY / SHUTTERS
| | Accession Number: | SC 2012.1.20
| | 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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Description:
red shutter with curlicue design, scattered text and hinges on left, green shutter with same design and scattered text with hinges on right, pencil design of dragon in mountains with Spanish text in square in bottom center image
Label Text:
In this painting, the artist teases the viewer with words and sight gags. The title of the painting, Complimentary Shutters, plays off the word “complimentary,” in that the “shutters,” which are depicted with hinges, are painted in the complementary colors of red and green. “Complimentary” can also mean “free,” suggesting that the shutters are gifts or free for the taking. The title is also played out in the form of sarcastic comments that may be construed as backward compliments. The text embedded in the green shutter reads, in part: “MUST BE TOUGH BEING RED ALL THOSE DEMANDS AND EXPECTATIONS…BIG TIME DUTIES ‘N’ THE LIKE.” The red shutter replies, “YOU CAN’T IMAGINE,” and asks, “WHAT GIVES YOU THE SHUTTERS” (“what gives you the shudders?”).
The highly detailed graphite drawing at the bottom of the painting, bridging the shutters, is an image of a burning salamander. The text, rendered in caption form, notes that the image comes from a modern Spanish edition of the Horapollo Hieroglyphica, a fifth-century CE Egyptian treatise on hieroglyphics. The Hieroglyphica was transported in manuscript to Florence in 1422 and quickly became a model for signs and symbols for Italian humanists. As translated and illustrated editions were subsequently produced, the Hieroglyphica developed into an iconographic resource that was widely disseminated throughout Europe. The modern (1991) Spanish edition to which Wiley refers is based on a French Renaissance edition with Greek texts illustrated with emblematic engravings, one of which the artist used as the model for his drawing of the dragon-like salamander.
Ancient beliefs and myths held that the salamander was impervious to or renewed by fire. The text fragment Wiley quotes—“ Il hombre no quemado por el fuego” (“a man burned by fire”)—refers to Book II, number LXII of the Hieroglyphica, in which a burning man is compared to a salamander. Wiley adds his own humorous postscript: “DRAGGIN EIGHTS IS PRAY” (“dragon eats his prey”).
Subjects:
Canvas; Graphite Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2012.1.20 |
