A sublime synthesis of art historical tropes and contemporary aesthetics, Artist and Muse epitomizes the exceptional virtuosity, psychic intensity and fragmented perspectives that distinguish George Condo’s remarkable oeuvre. Condo successfully synthesizes the vigor of Abstract Expressionism, the rigor of Old Master portraiture, the wry humor of Pop art, all while being grounded in Picasso's revolutionary principles of Cubism. But Condo not only incorporates, but elevates the concept, presenting the figure not only from multiple perspectives, but as an embodiment of simultaneous emotional states, which he calls “psychological cubism.” Executed in 2015, the present work is a rare and mature example of the artist applying his signature psychological cubism to an important art historical trope, one Picasso explored extensively—the painter and his model. Having sojourned in Paris in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Condo studied works by the artist, and would have come across these painting, as well as his celebrated profile portraits of Sylvette, a young girl with a long neck and thick tumbling blond hair tied in a pony tail, who captivated Picasso in the Spring of 1954. In Condo’s Artist and Muse, a figure that resembles Picasso, or perhaps Condo himself, appears next to a woman presented in full profile, with a familiar pony tail. However, instead of focusing on only the formal qualities of abstraction to depict different viewpoints within the same space, Condo advances this approach further to illustrate the complex metal states of his figures—the turmoil of obsession in the artist and the peaceful passivity of the muse.

Explaining his adoption of “psychological cubism”, Condo stated in an interview with Stuart Jeffries for The Guardian: “Picasso painted a violin from four different perspectives at one moment. I do the same with psychological states. Four of them can occur simultaneously. Like glimpsing a bus with one passenger howling over a joke they’re hearing down the phone, someone else asleep, someone else crying - I’ll put them all in one face” (the artist quoted in Stuart Jeffries, “George Condo: ‘I was delirious. Nearly died’”, The Guardian, 10 February 2014, online). In Artist and Muse, Condo provides an interpretation of the famous relationship that captured Picasso in entirety in 1954 and resulted in over 40 works across all mediums of the elegant and mysterious Sylvette.

Like his peers, Condo was critically engaged throughout the eighties with bringing to life a new form of figurative painting that stylistically blended the representational and the abstract. Along with the term psychological cubism, Condo coined the term “artificial realism” to define his unique lexicon of amusing caricatures, profound and intimate portraits, and grotesque abstractions. Moving into the 2010s, Condo began to employ a technique of “drawing painting.” Striking and arresting in color and composition, Artist and Muse with its sketched-like muse and splatterings of vivid colors exemplifies these “Drawing Paintings.” In an interview with Financial t.mes s, the artist explained: “I love to draw and I love to paint and I thought, why should there be any distinction or hierarchy between those two mediums? Why not put them together as a single thing” (the artist quoted in Julie Belcove, “George Condo interview”, Financial t.mes s, 21 April 2013, online). In these lively canvas works, Condo dissolves the distinction between drawing and painting, and the traditional hierarchy perceived between the two, demonstrating that they both exist along the same continuum. In Artist and Muse, the artist delineates his figures with dark, bold brushstrokes, as is typical for these post-2010 “Drawing Paintings.” However, the color palette of Artist and Muse is especially bright: the vivid orange of the artist’s face and his jet black hair against the luminous yellow and blue background that the muse appears to fade into. While the woman’s expression hints at contentment in her soft smile, Condo successfully conveys the inner torment and anxiety of the figure on the left by rupturing the composition, allowing him to explore the complexities of the psyche. The cubist portrayal of the figure on the left with teeth bared and manic eyes staring wide, along with the bolder, earthier palette contrasts against the cheerful colors and simply drawn outline of the right figure, juxtaposing the strikingly different moods of his two characters within the same pictorial space.

As seen in the present work, throughout his practice, Condo has mined the formal possibilities of art historical tropes to push the boundaries and defy expectations for both painting and portraiture reflective of our contemporary moment. Artist and Muse is a test.mes nt to Condo’s ability to translate his conceptual influences into a unique and fresh work of painting that resonates deeply with its art historical past, making it not only an exhilarating painting, but also a conceptually rich one.

Artist

George Condo