拍品專文
Teleflorist is one of a series of four paintings referred to as "complex storefronts," which Richard Estes began in 1973. This series is, in part, a result of sophisticated photography and darkroom equipment that allowed Estes to use multiple photographs for a single painting.
As subjects for this series, the artist returned from blockfronts to straight-on storefronts but with an added dimension. Indeed, the four major works in this series are so complex and confusing to the perceptions--with their multiple levels and planes of interior realities and both exterior and interior reflections--that there was obviously no way they could have been attempted without a very sophisticated use of the camera...
The two largest and most fully developed paintings in this series are Thom McAn and Teleflorist, both done in 1974. Teleflorist is the most complicated single image in Estes' career, and I think its creation ended, once and for all, the arguments as to the legitimacy and need of photographic tools in making fine art (Meisel, 1986, op. cit., p. 44).
Each of the four major paintings in this series is composed of narrow but powerful horizontal and vertical elements, with broader but still narrow bands of solid color on the horizontal axis; within these bands are rectangular areas of color. These works indicate an awareness of abstract painting and thinking, with a specific concession to Mondrian. A case might also be made that Estes has an understanding of spatial divisions and areas equal to that of artists like Barnett Newman and Brice Marden (ibid, p. 57).
As subjects for this series, the artist returned from blockfronts to straight-on storefronts but with an added dimension. Indeed, the four major works in this series are so complex and confusing to the perceptions--with their multiple levels and planes of interior realities and both exterior and interior reflections--that there was obviously no way they could have been attempted without a very sophisticated use of the camera...
The two largest and most fully developed paintings in this series are Thom McAn and Teleflorist, both done in 1974. Teleflorist is the most complicated single image in Estes' career, and I think its creation ended, once and for all, the arguments as to the legitimacy and need of photographic tools in making fine art (Meisel, 1986, op. cit., p. 44).
Each of the four major paintings in this series is composed of narrow but powerful horizontal and vertical elements, with broader but still narrow bands of solid color on the horizontal axis; within these bands are rectangular areas of color. These works indicate an awareness of abstract painting and thinking, with a specific concession to Mondrian. A case might also be made that Estes has an understanding of spatial divisions and areas equal to that of artists like Barnett Newman and Brice Marden (ibid, p. 57).