E xecuted in 1993, La Legion d’Honneur epitomizes George Condo’s characteristically unique painting style of figurative portraits. The dramatic and exaggerated features of Condo’s imaginative species of abstract characters are idiosyncratic to his visual lexicon. Condo recontextualizes historical painting practices with his own contemporary flair. He combines the techniques and compositional imagery of Old Masters works with the aesthetics and influence of great modern artists such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Willem de Kooning. La Legion d’Honneur is one of Condo’s most marvelous demonstrations of pushing the boundaries of traditional portraiture. His oeuvre is an ode to the historical aesthetics of portrait painting, though rejuvenated with his own twist of a carnivalesque spirit. This work in particular mirrors the tradition of honoring national servicemen by solidifying their identity in painting. Though the figure is dressed elaborately in beaming red court attire and accessorized with gilded royal equipment, the overall dynamic of the piece itself is disrupted and distorted. Condo subverts the honor of the recipient through reconstructing the depiction in his own artificial realistic style. The figure’s head is shrunk to a ridiculous size compared to the rest of its body. Ironically, this portrait is dedicated to a legion who is now unidentifiable because the pictorial structure has been recreated. Condo honors the artistic practice of portraiture while simultaneously innovatively reinventing the custom. “As far as I’m concerned, the Renaissance was yesterday and Cubism was a hundred years before it” Condo said when referring to his own artistic panache (Simon Baker, George Condo: Painting Reconfigured, New York 2015, p. 104). This surrealist-inspired style exploits the imperfections and hidden aspects of humanity to reveal the most raw and striking moments. Le Legion d’Honneur exemplifies Condo’s deep respect for artistic movements of the past but also displays his deliberate disregard for traditional narratives.


本 作完成於1993年，是極具喬治・康多獨特風格的肖像畫典範。畫中異想天開的抽象人物充滿誇張的戲劇張力，屬於藝術家典型的視覺語彙。康多在自己的當代藝術風格裡融入傳統繪畫方式，把古典大師的油畫技法和構圖、以及畢加索、馬蒂斯、德庫寧等現代藝術巨匠的美學風格結合起來。本作是康多挑戰傳統肖像畫底線的出色示範。他用作品謳歌肖像畫中藴藉的古典之美，然後為它賦予一個奔放的靈魂，使之瞬間復甦。這幅肖像跟隨以造像表彰國家軍人的傳統做法，鞏固他們的身份地位。畫中人身穿鮮紅宮廷盛裝，披掛鍍金皇家器物，不過作品的整體動態則遭到擾亂和扭曲。康多以人為寫實風格重構刻畫的形象，推翻畫中人所獲得的榮耀。他的頭顱萎縮至一個與身軀比例荒謬的大小。諷刺的是，肖像原本是為了致敬某軍團的軍人，然而畫像卻已變得面目全非，不可辨認。康多尊重繪畫肖像的藝術手法，同時不斷注入新意，改變舊俗。他在提到自己的藝術風格時曾經說過：「對我而言，文藝復興發生在昨天，立體主義則是一百年前的事。」（西蒙・貝克，《喬治・康多：繪畫重置》，紐約，2015年，頁104）這種源自超現實主義的風格暴露了人性的不完美和隱藏面，展示出最原始赤裸、震撼人心的一刻。本作除了體現康多對過往藝術運動的尊重，也反映他對傳統形式刻意的忽略。