Lot Essay
Man + Thing is one of a number of paintings from 1969-70 in which Jenney explored the subject of survival, one of several situations he termed 'high emotion.' In this example, the unusually constricted vertical format of the canvas intensifies the man's emotional response to the 'thing,' a sea-monster which is outside the frame in this version of the subject.
Jenney had introduced the emphatic frames displaying his titles in his first paintings of 1969, created after several years during the 1960's when he had been termed a 'process' artist.
Realism is illusionism and all illusionistic painting requires frames. At first, I did not realize the crucial factor that frames can play in the illusion. The frame is the foreground and it simply enhances the illusion--it makes the illusion more functional. I designed and built the frames to suit the paintings--I realized that the frames would enhance the illusion and be a perfect place to put the title (N. Jenney, statement in New Image Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 1978, p. 38).
In fact, the inclusion of the title as a major element of the work, as well as the object quality which is emphasized by the frame, are both features carried over to his paintings from his sculptures produced earlier in the decade. Both the frame and the title, furthermore, when viewed in the context of the painted image, serve to emphasize the timeless, iconic quality of the subject in contrast to a more restricted, anecdotal reading. Although Jenney's art developed in part from the 1960's Pop Art that preceded him--"Pop is the father of us all," he once said--Jenney's subjects are invented, not expropriated from the popular media, and his attitude towards his subjects is idealistic, completely lacking the irony of Pop Art.
Jenney had introduced the emphatic frames displaying his titles in his first paintings of 1969, created after several years during the 1960's when he had been termed a 'process' artist.
Realism is illusionism and all illusionistic painting requires frames. At first, I did not realize the crucial factor that frames can play in the illusion. The frame is the foreground and it simply enhances the illusion--it makes the illusion more functional. I designed and built the frames to suit the paintings--I realized that the frames would enhance the illusion and be a perfect place to put the title (N. Jenney, statement in New Image Painting, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 1978, p. 38).
In fact, the inclusion of the title as a major element of the work, as well as the object quality which is emphasized by the frame, are both features carried over to his paintings from his sculptures produced earlier in the decade. Both the frame and the title, furthermore, when viewed in the context of the painted image, serve to emphasize the timeless, iconic quality of the subject in contrast to a more restricted, anecdotal reading. Although Jenney's art developed in part from the 1960's Pop Art that preceded him--"Pop is the father of us all," he once said--Jenney's subjects are invented, not expropriated from the popular media, and his attitude towards his subjects is idealistic, completely lacking the irony of Pop Art.