Sold for: $11,250

PROVENANCE
Waddington & Gorce Inc., Montreal
Acquired from the above by the present Important Private Collection, Montreal, then California

LITERATURE
David Moos, Tony Scherman: New Mythologies, 2011, unpaginated

In the still life part of his oeuvre, Tony Scherman has often depicted delectable fruit, but here his image is dominated by a large joint of meat. Works such as this relate to old master still life paintings from previous centuries, of tables piled with game, fish and meat displayed on tablecloths, in which artists showcased their exquisite mastery of technique. Scherman employs the same device, using a pale cloth to show off the foodstuffs and objects on the tabletop. But his work is modern in technique, particularly in its sensuously worked and scored encaustic surfaces, such as the luscious coral-pink background contrasted by green streaks. Regarding his use of this medium, Leah Ollman commented, “The pigmented wax is at once succulent and tough, seeming to vacillate between liquid and solid states. It ripples and furrows, drips in long trails, gathers in gritty crusty patches. Rubbed to the point of abrasion in places, it’s glazed to a rich shine in others and occasionally scorched down to the canvas’s raw, naked weave.” Swooping into the scene is an interloper - a bird desirous of snatching a morsel - creating an intriguing narrative.

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