
Untitled
2000
A single female figure occupies the intimate sheet of this 2000 work on paper by John Currin, rendered in gouache, watercolor, and pencil with the layered delicacy and psychological charge that defines his most compelling draftsmanship. The face carries Currin's signature blend of reverence and unease, drawing from Northern Renaissance portraiture while pushing the image toward something more unsettling and contemporary. The relatively small format, 34 by 23.8 centimeters, concentrates that tension, forcing a proximity between viewer and subject that larger canvases rarely achieve with such directness. Currin produced these works on paper alongside his paintings during a period widely regarded as one of the most fertile of his career, and the medium suited his preoccupations particularly well. The translucency of watercolor allows underlayers of pencil to remain visible, giving the figure a sense of construction, of a body being slowly assembled from beneath the surface. Gouache then asserts opacity in strategic passages, lending weight and presence to flesh and fabric. The result is a surface that rewards sustained attention, moving between drawing and painting without fully committing to either. Provenance adds a further dimension to this work, as it comes from the collection of Kippy Stroud, a figure whose eye for significant contemporary art was widely respected among collectors and artists alike. Works gathered by Stroud carry the implicit endorsement of a sustained and thoughtful engagement with the field, making this untitled sheet not only a strong example of Currin's practice on paper but also a piece with a distinguished collecting history behind it. The work is signed and offered without frame, allowing the new owner to consider presentation freshly.
- Medium
- Gouache, watercolor and pencil on paper
- Overall
- Signed
- Yes
- Spotted At
- Gallery · Phillips
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