TOM BLACKWELL THE COMPLETE PAINTINGS, 1970 – 2014 BY LINDA CHASE
FOREWORD BY CARTER RATCLIFF
TOM B LACKWELL
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Fig. 23. Jaffrey, 1976. Oil on canvas, 85 7⁄8 × 73 7⁄8 in. (218.1 × 187.6 cm). Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Speiser Fund, 1976.
compositions of this period. The yellow parking-space line, which goes from foreground to middle ground, performs three functions: it leads the eye into the painting, accentuating the thrust of the bike toward the curb; it establishes the plane of the street; and, reflected simultaneously in the vehicles parked on either side, it becomes a powerful organizing color element that leads the eye to the vertical plane of the window. Blackwell chose to shoot this scene so that the window reflects neither the car nor the motorcycle but the street behind them, which is superimposed on and melds with the interior of the store. The real space within the store and the illusion of the space caught by the glass tend to contradict each other, and therefore flatten each other out, providing the illusion of flatness and depth at once. GM Showroom (fig. 24), based on photographs Blackwell took on one of his trips to New York City, with its airy landscape and ephemeral car, seemed something of an anomaly at the time it was painted in 1975, yet it prefigured many of the painting issues that would engage him in the decades to come. Factual yet mysterious, it has none of the aggressive gleam of the Rod and Cycle bikes or the up-front banality of such works as Bond’s Corner, Spring, or even Jaffrey. In one of those found convergences Blackwell loves, the windows of the auto showroom, located on the corner of Fifty-ninth Street and 5th Avenue, reflects a vista of Central Park. The sky and trees meld with and obscure the car, seen rotating on a pedestal within the showroom. The city and the auto appear ephemeral as they merge and fade into one another; only the structural elements of the store seem solid. If there is an irony here, it is soft pedaled. Blackwell’s real concerns are the evocation of the soft, late-afternoon light and the subtle orchestration of the spatial complexities. The car, seen here
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Fig. 24. GM Showroom, 1977. Oil on canvas, 50 × 72 in. (127 × 182.8 cm). Private collection.
as an object of fetishized glamour, lacks the solidity and concreteness so characteristic of Blackwell’s bikes and even of the truck in Takashimaya, and foreshadows the posed and idealized mannequins that were to become a major theme in his work. Many other aspects of the contemporary environment caught Blackwell’s eye and provided imagery for his paintings in the 1970s, including vintage airplanes. The first of these, White Lightning (plate 18), was the result of a commission for the Stuart M. Speiser aviation collection, organized by gallery owner Louis K. Meisel. Blackwell was a little leery of the concept of a commission since the choice of subject matter is a crucial aspect of his work, but the parameters here seemed broad and open-ended enough, requiring only that the painting have something to do with aviation. An expenses-paid trip to Miami in the middle of the winter to photograph the Tamiami air show was a nice sweetener. The air show turned out to offer a wealth of promising material that provided the images for four major paintings as well as several smaller works. Like the show bikes, these WW I and WW II planes are clearly objects of love: refurbished, polished, and painted in bright colors by their owners, they sit resplendent in the bright Florida sunshine. Vintage icons, they carry a certain weight of nostalgia, but Blackwell is more concerned with the painterly challenges and satisfactions they present than with their emotional connotations. Responding to their Florida milieu, he photographed them in the open airfield with no buildings or even trees to obstruct the vista, reveling in the sense of space to evoke variations on blue sky and lush cloud formations. In the early show-bike series, the reflections on the chrome tended to be diffuse, but in the later outdoor works, the reflections often created “holes” in the image that, while they seem to lead one into the painting, actually reveal mini-worlds and disconcerting slices of life behind the
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PLATE 42
Little Roy’s Gold Wing, 1977. Oil on canvas, 67 5⁄8 × 83 ½ in. (171.8 × 212.1 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY.
PLATE 43
Little Roy’s Gold Wing, 1977. Watercolor on paper, 12 ½ × 16 in. (31.8 × 40.6 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 44
GM Showroom, 1977. Watercolor on paper, 15 × 22 in. (38.1 × 55.9 cm).* Private collection.
PLATE 45
Storrow Drive, 1977. Watercolor on paper, 18 × 27 in. (45.7 × 68.9 cm).* Private collection.
PLATE 46
Venice, 1977. Watercolor on paper, 15 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm).* Collection of the artist.
PLATE 47
Jourdan, 1978. Watercolor on paper, 16 × 23 ¾ in. (40.6 × 60.3 cm). Private collection. * Denotes works for which image size was unavailable.
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PLATE 100
Bloomie’s, 1990. Oil on board, 12 × 9 in. (30.5 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 101
American Flavor, L.A., 1990. Oil on board, 12 × 9 in. (30.5 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 102
B. Altman’s, 1990. Oil on board, 12 × 9 in. (30.5 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 103
Saks Window with Panels, 1990. Oil on linen, 29 ¼ × 39 ¼ in. (74.3 × 99.7 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 104
Saks with Carriages, 1990. Oil on canvas, 24 × 34 in. (61 × 86.4 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 105
Lexington and 59th, 1991. Oil on linen, 48 × 72 in. (121.9 × 182.9 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 109
Odalisque Express, 1992–1993. Oil on linen, 61 × 93 ½ in. (154.9 × 237.5 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 110
Reclining Mannequin, c. 1995. Oil on panel, 12 × 9 in. (approx.) (30.5 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 111
Red Scarf, 1997. Oil on masonite, 15 ¼ × 11 ½ in. (38.7 × 29.2 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 112
Jaffrey, 1977–1997. Oil on panel, 24 × 20 ¾ in. (60.9 × 52.7 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 153
Naples Custom Chopper, 2009. Oil on canvas, 6 × 9 in. (15.2 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 154
Madison & 79th (NYC), 2009. Oil on canvas, 9 × 6 in. (22.9 × 15.2 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 155
Parking at Tommy Bahama’s, 2010. Oil on canvas, 6 × 9 in. (15.2 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 156
Study for “Live to Ride”, 2010. Oil on canvas, 6 × 9 in. (15.2 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 157
Lobster Shack Harleys, 2010. Oil on canvas, 6 × 9 in. (15.2 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 158
Surf Club Harleys, 2010. Oil on canvas, 6 × 9 in. (15.2 × 22.9 cm). Private collection.
PLATE 159
Parked Harley—Third St. Naples, 2010. Oil on canvas, 11 × 13 in. (27.9 × 33 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 181
Volubilis, 1993. Acrylic on paper (nine individual panels), 70 × 120 in. (177.8 × 304.8 cm). Private collection.
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PLATE 182
Chips, 1994. Mixed media with construction, 60 × 84 × 5 in. (152.4 × 213.4 × 12.7 cm). Private collection.
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1980
1988
Spends the fall term as Artist in Residence at Dartmouth College in
Creates the paintings for the artist protagonist in the TV production,
Hanover, New Hampshire, and has a solo show of his works at the
“For Art’s Sake,” an episode of the Hitchcock Presents series, and is
Hood Museum of Art.
artistic adviser to the production in Toronto, Canada.
1981
1992
The Guggenheim displays its acquisition, Little Roy’s Gold Wing, along
Speaks as guest lecturer, Rhode Island School of Design’s painting
with several other Blackwell works as part of its exhibition, Seven Pho-
program.
torealists from New York Collections. 1998
Spends the month of March as Artist in Residence, University of Ari-
The Blackwells purchase a house in Naples, Florida, and begin spend-
zona, Tucson. He is inspired by the wonderful contrast of a double
ing the winters there.
rainbow in the sky over the banal strip where his motel is located, which he photographs on his first day in Tucson; it results in the painting
Naples and the surrounding area of southwestern Florida provide the
Double Rainbow Tucson, now in the collection of the Arizona University
inspiration for many motorcycle and store-window paintings.
Museum of Art. 2003 1985
Travels to Paris to photograph the Jean Paul Gautier boutique for a
In a departure from Photorealism, he paints the super-scale, expressive
painting commission and, later in the year, to Milan to photograph the
work Breath, which becomes the beginning of a series of paintings he
Narciso Rodriguez boutique as part of the same commission. He is
comes to call metaphorical or montage paintings. Throughout the mid-
particularly intrigued by the combination of classical architecture and
1980s and into the 1990s, he continues to develop this work while also
modern shops, and his many photographs taken in Milan result in his
producing a limited number of Photorealist paintings.
painting Piazza Duomo.
Has his first solo show of these new paintings at the Currier Museum of
Goes on to Rome to attend the Iperrealisti exhibition at the Chiostro del
Art in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Bramante and is thrilled to see a huge blow-up of his painting Odalis-
Begins teaching in the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, a position he holds through 1989. 1986
Travels with his wife to Morocco, staying at the home of friends in Mar-
que Express at the end of a small street off of the Piazza Navona on the wall of the show’s venue. 2005
Travels to Paris for a photo shoot.
rakesh and then visiting the Roman ruin of Volubilis, which becomes the
Flies from Paris to Bologna where he has been invited to tour the Ferrari
subject of a nine-part work on paper that combines imagery from the
factory and photograph Ferrari racecars for prospective paintings.
ancient ruin with contemporary images. 2006 1987
Feeling the need to be closer to New York City, the Blackwells buy and renovate a historic farmhouse and barn in the tiny upstate New York hamlet of New Kingston. This becomes his primary home and studio for the next 20 years. Blackwell and his wife travel to the Yucatan with New Hampshire friends, noted printmaker Peter Milton and his wife Edith. They tour Tulum, Uxmal, and Chichén Itzá. Both artists take numerous photos. Several of Blackwell’s major paintings of the Montage series result from this trip.
Travels to Paris for his solo show at the Patrice Trigano Gallery. Photographs the Guerlain window with reflections of the Place Vendôme, which becomes the material for two Kiss Kiss paintings. The Brauer Museum of Art at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, mounts a show of the montage paintings, Tom Blackwell: Aspects of a Realist. 2007
Travels to Zurich along with other Photorealists as part of the Zurich Project organized by Louis Meisel. The trip results in two important window paintings, Martina’s Porsche and Swiss Miss.
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2008
2012
Attends “Race Week” in Monaco along with the Meisels and several
The Bernaducci Meisel Gallery mounts an exhibition of Blackwell’s Pho-
other Photorealist painters as part of the Monaco Project. The trip pro-
torealist paintings of the last decade, Tom Blackwell: The 21st Century.
vides particularly rich material that results in three of his most ambitious recent paintings, Morning in Monaco, The Blue Dress, Monte Carlo: Homage to Ingres’ Princesse de Broglie, and Exiting Celine, Monaco. 2009
Tom Blackwell: Metaphorical Paintings opens at the Karl Drerup Art Gallery, Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire. Blackwell gives a gallery talk at the opening and teaches a master class seminar for advanced students in the university’s art programs.
Interviewed by Judith Olich Richards for the Smithsonian Archives of
Moves to Rhinebeck, New York, and he and his wife currently split their
American Art’s Oral History program.
time between Rhinebeck and Naples, Florida.
Travels to Berlin for the opening of the exhibition Picturing America: Photorealism in the 1970s at the Deutsche Guggenheim. Takes part in the museum panel discussion and is interviewed at the opening as part of the museum project for Vernissage TV, which can be viewed on YouTube. Gives a gallery talk to students, guests, and alumni at the opening of his solo show Tom Blackwell: Image as Metaphor at New England College, Plymouth, New Hampshire.
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2015
Major monograph, Tom Blackwell: The Complete Paintings, 1970– 2014, published by The Artist Book Foundation.
1973–1978
L’Hyperréalistes americains, Galerie des Quatre Mouvements, Paris,
Photo-Realism 1973: The Stuart M. Speiser Photorealism Collection,
France [n.d.]
traveling exhibition: Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY; Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY; Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA; Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA; University of Colorado Art Museum, Boulder, CO; University of Texas at Austin Art Museum, Austin, TX; Witte Memorial Museum, San Antonio, TX; Gibbes Art Gallery, Charleston, SC; Brooks
Painting and Sculpture Today, 1972, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN [n.d.] Phases of the New Realism, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL [n.d.] Realism Now, New York Cultural Center, New York, NY [n.d.]
Memorial Art Gallery, Memphis, TN; Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL; Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS; Paine Art Center, Oshkosh, WI; Edwin A. Ulrich Museum, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS; Tampa Bay Art Center, Tampa, FL; Sewall Art Gallery, Rice University, Houston, TX; Tulane University Art Gallery, New Orleans, LA; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC [n.d.] 1973–1974
Hyperréalisme, Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels, Belgium [n.d.] 1973
American Realism, Post-Pop, Meadowbrook Art Gallery, Oakland University, Detroit, MI [n.d.] Realism Now, Katonah Gallery, Katonah, NY [n.d.] Richard Brown Baker Collection, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA [n.d.] The Super Realist Vision, the deCordova and Dana Museum, Lincoln, MA [n.d.] 1972–1973
Amerikanischer Fotorealismus, traveling exhibition: Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, West Germany; Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, West Germany; Kunst-und Museumsverein Wuppertal, West Germany [n.d.] 1972
Annual Exhibition, Contemporary American Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY [n.d.]
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Sharp-Focus Realism, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY [n.d.] 1971
All California Show, Laguna Beach Art Association Museum, Laguna Beach, CA [n.d.] New Realism/Old Realism, Bernard Dannenburg Gallery, New York, NY [n.d.] 200th Annual Spring Invitational, O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY, June 5–26 Projected Artists/Artists at Work, Finch College Museum, New York, NY [n.d.] 1970
Molly Barnes Gallery, Los Angeles, CA [n.d.] 1969
Human Concern/Personal Torment, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY [n.d.] 1968
The Visionaries, East Hampton Gallery, East Hampton, NY [n.d.] 1966
Psychedelic Art, Riverside Museum, New York, NY [n.d.]
COLLECTIONS
Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin, TX
Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica, NY
Ball State University Art Gallery, Muncie, IN
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso, IN
New England College, Henniker, NH
Byer Museum of the Arts, Evanston, IL
The Phoenix Museum of Art, Phoenix, AZ
Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
Pieper Power, Milwaukee, WI
Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Queensborough Community College Art Gallery, Queens, NY
Currier Museum of Art, Manchester, NH
Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, State University of New York, New
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
Paltz, New Paltz, NY
Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, NC
Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
Dwight Frederic Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD
Sentra Museum, Berardo Collection, Lisbon, Portugal
East Gallery, College of Eastern Utah, Price, UT
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, MI
Sordoni Art Gallery, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA
James Madison University, School of Art and Art History,
South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi, TX
Harrisonburg, VA Jamestown Community College, Jamestown, NY Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY State University of New York, Plattsburgh State Art Museum, Plattsburgh, NY
Hofstra University Museum, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
The University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
The Virlane Foundation and The K&B Corporation Collections,
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY The Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ
New Orleans, LA Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
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First Edition © 2015 The Artist Book Foundation All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Convention. Except for legitimate excerpts customary in review or scholarly publications, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published in the United States by The Artist Book Foundation 115 East 57th Street, 11th floor, New York, New York 10022 Distributed in the United States, its territories and possessions, and Canada by ARTBOOK LLC D.A.P. | Distributed Art Publishers, Inc. www.artbook.com Distributed outside North America by ACC Distribution www.accdistribution.com/uk Publisher and Co-founder: Leslie Pell van Breen Co-founder: H. Gibbs Taylor, Jr. Production Manager: David Skolkin Design: David Skolkin & Masumi Shabata Editor: Deborah Thompson Proofreader: Marisa Crumb Indexer: Barbara E. Smith Printed and bound by Elcograf Manufactured in Italy ISBN 978-0-9888557-7-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chase, Linda, 1942- author. Tom Blackwell : the complete paintings, 1970/2014 / By Linda Chase ; Preface By Louis K. Meisel ; Foreword By Carter Ratcliff ; Research And Documentation By Elizabeth K. Harris. -- First Edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-9888557-7-9 1. Blackwell, Tom, 1938---Catalogues raisonnés. I. Meisel, Louis K., writer of preface. II. Ratcliff, Carter, writer of foreword. III. Harris, Elizabeth K. IV. Blackwell, Tom, 1938- Paintings. V. Title. ND237.B5957A4 2015 759.13--dc23 2015010262 Cover: Sagaponack Sunday, 2003. Oil on linen, 48 x 72 in. (121.9 x 182.9 cm). Private collection. Plate 130. Frontispiece: Kiss Kiss (Self-Portrait), 2014. Oil on canvas, 9 x 6 in. (22.9 x 15.2 cm). Collection of the artist. Plate 167. Spread (pp. 4–5): The artist working on Exiting Celine, Monaco, 2014. Plate 168.