| Maker(s): | Gillespie, Gregory Joseph
| | Culture: | American (1936 - 2000)
| | Title: | Trees and Figures (Surviving the Flood)
| | Date Made: | 1980-1981
| | Type: | Painting
| | Materials: | oil and collage on board
| | Place Made: | United States
| | Measurements: | panel: 10 1/2 in x 13 3/4 in; 26.67 cm x 34.925 cm
| | Narrative Inscription: | undated, signature in pencil on verso: Gregory Gillespie
| | Accession Number: | SC 2012.1.9
| | 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:
green land and water, white sky, large tree at left, snake left of center with another tree with a child holding on to is, woman with large breasts rests on the roof of a very damaged building on right
Label Text:
This painting with collaged elements inaugurated the friendship between the Pokrosses and artist Gregory Gillespie and his wife, Peggy. A note written by David Pokross describes the acquisition:
Our friendship began in 1986 when we bought the work “Trees and Figures” oil on board at the Alpha Gallery. Alan Fink, the owner of the gallery, brought Mrs. Gillespie to meet me as the purchaser. She told me this was a painting of great meaning for Gregory—his mother is the female figure in the work. Then Gregory came over and thanked me. Our friendship continued with many visits to his home gallery in Belchertown and at our home in Belmont.
When Peggy Gillespie recently saw the painting, she commented that Muriel and David Pokross were among Greg’s favorite patrons. She identified the architectural element here as a kind of manger shed, which the artist had used in other contexts. If so, the female figure atop its roof, which David Pokross recalled as representing Greg’s mother, may be shown in labor, as the woman draws her truncated limbs toward her body and strains to give birth. This Biblical reference to Eve or to Mary, the mother of Christ, is complicated by the subtitle of the painting, which would seem to refer to the story of Noah’s Flood. The artist was brought up in a Catholic environment, which he recalled in a 1977 interview for an exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum as being restricted and repressed: “And there’s a lot of anguish and pain in that. Like a delicate organism being born into the world….”
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2012.1.9 |
