John Currin: New Paintings

by Norman Bryson, Alison M. Gingeras, Dave Eggers

One of the leading figurative painters of his generation, Currin's influences range from Italian and Northern Renaissance paintings to popular illustrations from the mid-20th century. Whether portraits of older women, buxom girls, nudes with elongated bodies, or group scenes of domestic life, his works are characterized by baroque gestures, loose brushstrokes, unorthodox palettes, and detailed backgrounds that startle the viewer into a reconsideration of the tradition of painting. His "old master" techniques and individual style have earned him accolades from critics and collectors worldwide.

Genres: Art

382 pages, Hardcover

First published December 5, 2006

Reviews

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Aspects of John Currin

John Currin's name is one that is frequently mentioned when conversations about figurative art today arise. He made his name with his well crafted paintings of buxom women - near distortions of chesty gals that made many viewers think about Pop Art. Some critics considered these quasi-comic book images as illustration for the voyeur and that idea about Currin's art is difficult to shed. Until books such as this magnificent volume produced by Rizzoli!

In this volume that spans John Currin's career we are introduced to his early works of still lifes and head portraits and then the book proceeds into the realm of his famous semi-nude female tropes and the question arises: are these women a subtle mockery of the female form or are they a celebration of sensual, at times shallow, beauties delivered to the hungry eye of the male viewer? The authors of the essays provide fine insights as to the 'Rake's Progress' and lead the viewer through the very sensitive domestic views of both male couples and male/female couples while continuing to offer the facial portraits of women and men that make the viewer alter perception of just how fine a painter Currin is. John Currin may jolt the eye now and then but he also proves to be one of the more sensitive examiners of our current lifestyle. This book is a well designed, generous compendium of the work of the at times misunderstood painter John Currin. It will set the art history dialogue straight.

Grady Harp

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were in NYC when the John Currin show was being mounted at the Whitney and only got to peek, but after seeing paintings only in reproduction, even seeing from a distance was a treat. After seeing the James Rosenquists at the Guggenheim, it didn't sting as deeply that we were held back by barricades and sneaked into a section just to peer. That was as arresting as the portraits because there is this sense you are a sneaky voyeur in his little world. (I am not usually a break the rules and go under barricades type of person so this was an exciting little voyage into naughty art viewing -- I could always blame this on my son! ) His weirdly arresting portraits are witty and just odd. The viewer becomes mesmerized by the sense that we, the viewer, are just as strange as the pop-eyed icons so carefully painted on one canvas after another. Currin is difficult to place, but an inescapable force in post-modernist portraiture.

[William West]

I enjoy Currin's work. I hear his latest paintings could fairly be described as playfully pornographic, which hardly surprises me. The guy is definitely in it for shits and giggles, but that doesn't change the fact that he's an exceptionally talented painter (and what's wrong with shits and giggles at any rate?).

[Alexandra Infante · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has awesome reproductions. I love the Dave Eggers stories. I think it is such a great book.

[brian tanabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currin is one of my favorite contemporary artists.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excrutiatingly beautiful book -even the additions by Dave Eggers.