🔥 Vintage Old Modern Portrait SIDESHOW Phallic Lithograph, Signed

Description: This is an evocative and humorous Vintage Modern Portrait SIDESHOW The Great Phallic Lithograph on Paper, by renowned American Modernist figural painter and illustrator, Charles Bragg (1931 - 2017.) This artwork depicts a rotund circus performer, wearing a red leotard with the words "The Great Phallic" emblazoned on the front. I'm pretty sure you can assume what his performance entails. There is a small sign, over his crotch which reads: "Next Show 5:30." This piece likely dates to the 1960's - early 1970's. Numbered 127/300 in graphite in the lower left corner, and hand signed in graphite by the artist: "Charles Bragg" in the lower right corner. Approximately 22 x 26 inches (including frame.) Actual visible artwork is approximately 10 3/4 x 16 inches. Good condition for age and storage, with some mild scuffing and edge wear to the original period vintage wood frame. Additionally, there is some faint speckles of coloration at the upper edge, but I think this might just be from the printing process, or part of the woven paper texture (please see photos.) Acquired in Los Angeles County, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! About the Artist: Charles Bragg Born: 1931Died: 2017Known for: Illustrator, surreal figure-genre painting Charles Bragg (1931 - 2017) was active/lived in California. Charles Bragg is known for Illustrator, surreal figure-genre painting. Painter, sculptor, and illustrator of commentary on human behavior, Charles Bragg often injects his sense of humor and appreciation of satire into his subjects, many which are cartoonish and seem half human and half animal. He is also capable of depicting serious subjects, ones that become poignant commentaries on the human condition. Bragg has his studio in Los Angeles. Biography from American Design Ltd. Charles Bragg portrays people, but he is not a figurative artist in the plastic sense in which California artists have come to be known.Bragg's concerns start with the narrative, even anecdotal, and he has created a cast of characters who have lost their souls while acting out depravities through tragicomic burlesques of morality and ethics. Like a visual re-enactment of Gertrude Stein's wonderful tale, "I Know I'm a Queen Because I Wear a Crown," his half-ass generals embody their values in symbols of their acquisitiveness and vanity such as phony and ornate medallions.Bragg's sinful universe is home to inept warmarkers frozen (clinically but not without humanity) as they plot, plan, scheme, pose, and rattle phallic sabres; they fumble and bristle beneath Prussian sashes and Edwardian haircuts while breathing heavily through forced smiles (psychosomatic asthma?).Bragg's bittersweet people are pompous, voiceless, pious and cruel! They are completely believable, even lovable; yet they are deranged, pretentious deathmongers and benevolent despots with serious oral problems. They obviously overeat to compensate for a lack of normal gratification. To sum up, they are nice-looking, costumed 20th century cousins of Goya's Saturn devouring his son.How dare Bragg make art of castrated cherubs as generals, or gaily-draped ritualistic hypocrites as clergymen! Who in hell does he think he is mirroring? It certainly doesn't look like what we think of as white Christian America!—or then again, does it? Holbein's skeletons dance once again with reincarnate joy!Some viewers find so much to see in Bragg's work that one is apt to forget what one is looking at, that is—a work composed of lush, intuitive geometry modeled architectonically, using subtle renaissance form. Genteel fantasies are woven into a complexity of visual (image-idea) and psychological patterns in such a way that gestalt experience occurs surprisingly often.Though his scale is intimate, Bragg's compositions are monumental enough to be translated verbatim into mural scale. But enough about the physicality of these works! The crux of the matter is simply that these remarkably communicative expressions can be interprested as going beyond storytelling into the real of affirming truth by exposing myths and lies! Mean old Charley pricks pins into pomposity, not people. He loves people, and his work transcends being merely narrative because his work basically expresses conditions and values, not itsy-bitsy genre situations. False prophets and soulless mythic heroes are on their way out and Charley Bragg is recording Act III for posterity. Charles Bragg (1931 – January 9, 2017) was an American sculptor, painter, artist and author known best for his satirical artwork. Bragg was born in St. Louis Missouri in 1931. His parents were Vaudeville performers, and he spent most of his young life traveling on tour with them. During his teenage years, he went to New York's High School of Music & Art in Harlem. At 18, he ran away with his high school sweetheart, fellow artist Jennie Tomao. Before pursuing art, Bragg worked as a cow driver, a truck driver, a stand-up comedian, and a factory worker. He eventually settled in California, where he began his artistic career. He started by painting portraits of wealthy families, as well as offering lessons. He began to pursue his own creative work and experienced some success. His success came from the humor and satirical style of his work, which often portrayed flaws in American society. His political opinions are featured in his work. Bragg has referred to himself as a "devoted student of the human race" and an "observer." Bragg's works have been showcased in museums and exhibits around the world, and he has had work commissioned by Playboy magazine. In 1986, PBS made a documentary about him called "Charles Bragg - One of a Kind." One of Bragg's lithographs, The Screen Goddess, is featured prominently in the opening scene of the 1992 Robert Altman film, The Player. He has published and his work has been featured in books.Longbeard the Wizard by Sid Fleischman, illustrated by Charles Bragg (Jun 1970)Charles Bragg: The Works! A Retrospective by Alan Bisbort (Oct 1999)Charles Bragg on the Law by Charles Bragg (Nov 1, 1984)Charles Bragg on Medicine by Charles Bragg (Nov 1984)Asylum Earth by Charles Bragg (October 15, 1994) Bragg has won many awards, including the Gold Medal for the National Society of Illustrators as well as the Award of Merit from the Art Directors Guild of New York. Bragg lived in Beverly Hills. He had two children and died on January 9, 2017, at the age of 85.

Price: 475 USD

Location: Orange, California

End Time: 2024-10-29T00:20:55.000Z

Shipping Cost: 45 USD