Marilyn Blowing Kisses

16 x 12", acrylic on mounted gessoed aluminium panel

painting #277, 2020

This is my fourth painting, part of the on-going series that connects a play with words in the title, a retro black and white photograph, a date (calendar) and a large Hershey's Kisses. The previous three all featured couples kissing. With this one, I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and paint a portrait of a single figure that would somehow convey a loving sentiment to the looker while still keeping with the theme. 

I found this photograph of Marilyn Monroe on the web. It probably dates back to the mid 1950's when she wore this signature hairdo. Unfortunately, I do not know who the photographer is. I liked the contrast between the white dress and the black background. There was very little detail between her right hand and the dress. I could not make out her thumb and her pinky looked crooked. My wife Suzanne actually posed for me with a white glove. It is her hand. The whole portrait was done using only titanium white and Paynes Grey. 

To acquire this painting, please contact: 

Galerie de Bellefeuille

1367 avenue Greene, 

Montreal, Quebec H3Z 2A8 

Tel: 514.933.4406

e-mail- art@debellefeuille.com

website 

-SOLD

Hibiscus in a Campbell's Soup Can, an homage to Andy Warhol

16 x 12", acrylic on mounted gessoed aluminium panel

painting #274, 2019

I first became aware of Andy Warhol's ''Flowers'' serigraph prints during the late 1980's when one of the many variations was featured predominately on the set of the CBS sitcom, Murphy Brown, starring Candice Bergan. 

After acquiring this Andy Warhol art book from the Taschen's Basic Art Series 2.0, I became curious about the backstory behind the image. Warhol would draw inspiration from a photograph of hibiscus flowers by Patricia Caulfield that appeared in a 1964 issue of Modern Photography. He was later sued in 1966 for the first time by the photographer for copyright infringement. Warhol was a very prolific artist. With the help of a few workers inside of "The Factory" (his studio), in one day, he could produce as many as 80 of these flowers silkscreens, printed in various sizes.  

L- photography of hibiscus by Patricia Caulfield

R- serigraph print of "Flowers" by Andy Warhol

For at least the past decade or so, we've been buying a hibiscus plant every spring for the veranda in front of our house. For the most part, the blooms only last one day or two, but it has several blooming cycles during the summer. This spring while stepping into our local Home Depot, they had a variety of dwarf hibiscus that is more of a potted flower than a potted plant. By the time I got back home, the concept for this painting came to me. I then acquired a Campbell's soup can on eBay from a US listing since here in Canada, the label was modernized more than a decade ago. I had initially intended to just do black background. Once it was done, the idea of using a modified version of Marilyn Monroe from Warhol's reversal series was introduced. I repeated the image as if it was wallpaper like Warhol did with Cows in 1966. 

This past July, after my wife Suzanne gave me the green light, I headed for Europe for three weeks to do some backpacking with our son Jean-Luc. This was his graduation gift for completing a bachelor's degree in business administration at the Université de Moncton. At the very beginning of the trip, we spent three days in Barcelona, Spain. As luck would have it, we were fortunate enough to view a serigraph print exhibition of Andy Warhol. The whole collection was owned by one individual, and was comprised mostly of many variations of Marilyn Monroe, Campbell's Soup Cans, Flowers and Mao Tse Tung. Click HERE for link. 

Painting to be shown this weekend at Art Toronto with Galerie de Bellefeuille (Booth A12)

Opening Night Gala: Thursday, October 24, 2019: 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Fair Hours: Friday, October 25, 2019: 12AM – 8:00PM
Saturday, October 26, 2019: 11:00AM – 8:00PM
Sunday, October 27, 2019: 11:00AM – 6:00PM

Location
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, North Building
255 Front Street West, Toronto

-SOLD

Styling an Icon

Acrylic on gessoed mounted birch panel, 11 x 14"

painting #256, 2017

This painting was sparked by a previous painting done five years ago, "Famous for more than 15 minutes". (Click HERE to view). It was an homage to Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, Coco Chanel but it is the last luminary, William Travilla that prompted me to re-examine this subject matter for a new still life painting.  

 William Travilla (1920-1990) was an American costume designer for theatre, film, and television. He is perhaps best known for dressing Marilyn Monroe in eight of her films including the pink dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (click HERE) and the pleated ivory cocktail dress Monroe wore in the 1955 film, The Seven Year Itch while standing on a New York City Subway ventilation grate. Photographs of the scene as her dress rises around her have become synonymous with Monroe herself. The iconic dress, which was later purchased by actress Debbie Reynolds, was sold for $4,600,000 (USD) during a 2011 auction. The eight films Travilla designed Marilyn's outfits are: Monkey Business (1952), Don't Bother to Knock (1952), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), There's No Business Like Show Business (1954), River of No Return (1954), The Seven Year Itch (1955), and Bus Stop (1956). Travilla would receive four Academy Award nominations during his career, winning the Oscar for the 1951 film, Adventures of Don Juan starring Errol Flynn. Travilla was nominated for Emmy awards seven times for his work in television, winning twice.

Monroe once wrote to Travilla, "Billy Dear, please dress me forever. I love you, Marilyn."

Madonna would use Marilyn's song-dance sequence of "Diamonds are a girl's best friend'' as inspiration for her 1985 music video, "Material Girl". The set decoration was reconstructed complete with staircase, chandeliers and a number of tuxedo clad chorus boys. She wore a replica of the pink dress with long gloves designed by Travilla from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Click HERE to view. 

Chanel no. 5 enjoyed publicity when Ed Feingersh photographed Marilyn with a bottle of the perfume. In the 1950's the glamour of Chanel No. 5 was reignited by Monroe, whose unsolicited endorsement of the fragrance provided invaluable publicity.“What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course,” the Daily Mail quoted Monroe as saying in the ad.

Standing with the exhibition banner 

"Marilyn, Celebrating an American Icon" at the Jepson Center in Savannah, Ga

held from April to Jul, 2014.

The book featured in this painting was written by Andrew Hansford with Karen Homer. It was published by Goodman Books in 2011, in the UK. The Andy Warhol box in the same pinkish hue has her dress contains 20 note cards. 

The year 2017 marks 55 years since the passing of Monroe, 30 years since the passing of Warhol and 95 years since Coco Chanel brought the world's most famous perfume to market! 

To acquire this painting, please contact:

Galerie de Bellefeuille

1367 avenue Greene, 

Montreal, Quebec H3Z 2A8 Tel: 514.933.4406

e-mail- art@debellefeuille.com

website 

On view at ART TORONTO with Galerie de Bellefeuille - October 28-30, 2017.

-SOLD

A Date with Marilyn, an homage to Warhol

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 16 x 12"

Painting # 222,  2014

Last year we spent the long Easter weekend in Pittsburgh, Pa.  It's a wonderful city with many top-notch museums, several professional sports teams, a great downtown core and the skyline view atop Mount Washington is breathtaking. We took in, a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game with Sidney Crosby leading his team to victory. We also attended the hilarious "Broadway Across America" musical, "The Book of Mormons" at the Benedum Theatre, and a Green Day in concert at the Consol Energy Centre. Philanthropists Andrew Carnegie, Andrew W. Mellon,  Henry Frick and H.J. Heinz II have contributed greatly in creating a lasting legacy, making the city a sophisticated and cultural hub. 

One of the major reason for that trip was to visit the Andy Warhol Museum. I've been an admirer of Warhol's artwork for as long as I've been painting. It was never a question of ''if'' I would visit the Andy Warhol Museum, but ''when''. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. Upon exiting, I even received a parting gift of a large Brillo Soap Pads Box, an homage to Warhol by Charles Lutz, that was part of the exhibition, Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years.   

A few years back, I had the idea of incorporating some sort of Kerr's Candy in a Kerr Mason jar and entitling the piece, "Kerr's in Kerr". The jar and lollipops has been on a shelf in my studio ever since. Being in a Warhol state-of-mine when I got home, I took out a 1991 Andy Warhol Celebrity Calendar which I had held on to for some twenty odd years.  As I started flipping the pages of the calendar, I noticed that the colour combination of the jar/lollipops was the same as the image in that calendar for the month of March, "Eighteen Marilyns" (Reversal Series), 1979. This is when the genesis and narrative for the painting took place. The title suggest an encounter with Marilyn Monroe, a fantasy entertained by many.   

The image above is of my wife Suzanne with another of Warhol's Reversal Series

image of Marilyn Monroe that was on exhibit

 at "La FIAC" (International Contemporary Art Fair) at 

le Grand Palais in Paris in 1989.

Last month, Suzanne and I spend 10 days vacationing in the states of Georgia and South Carolina. As luck would have it, we got to see a wonderful art exhibition entitled "Marilyn, Celebrating an American Icon" at the Jepson Center in Savannah, Ga.  The exhibit includes the artwork of more than fifty artists, ranging in style from Andy Warhol’s Pop Art to photographer Tom Kelley's 1949 famous nudes of Marilyn against a red velvet background. Click on the banner below for details of the exhibition that runs until July 27, 2014. 

-SOLD 

Famous for More than Fifteen Minutes

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 16 x 11''

painting #209, 2012

Today, marks the 50th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's untimely passing at the age of 36. The circumstances surrounding her death has been the subject of much speculation and mystery. There are a few actresses of the golden age of cinema that still continue to mesmerize me and these include- Marilyn Monroe, Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly. For Marilyn, her vulnerability and timeless beauty captured both on film and in photography makes her immortal. Her ever growing appeal continues to fascinate half a century later. 

Ed Feingersh photography

 The genesis for this painting was ignited after viewing two films this past February. My week with Marilyn for which Michelle Williams received a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination and the 2009 film Coco before Chanel starring Audrey Tautou.  A most famous photograph of Marilyn taken by Ed Feingersh was the catalyst that sparked the whole concept. In the 1950s the glamour of Chanel No. 5 was reignited by Monroe, whose unsolicited endorsement of the fragrance provided invaluable publicity.“What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course,” the Daily Mail quoted Monroe as saying in the ad. In another 1994 ad, model Carole Bouquet was morphed into Marilyn for a clever Chanel No. 5 video commercial. (click HERE to view)

Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel in Saumur, France in 1883. She first branched out into fashion as a hat designer. She revolutionised the fashion industry with menswear-inspired design done in simple elegance which made her a rebel in the 1920's and 30's. She rejected a lot of the feminine fashion of her day and created a more androgynous look. Her House of Haute-Couture became famous for her tweed suits, little black dress, costume jewellery, top-stitched bags, chain belts and of course the world's most famous perfume, Chanel No.5.  The scent was developed by Russian-French chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. In 1921, the perfume's first 100 bottles were given as Christmas gifts to her best clientèle. The following year, it was made available to the general public, marking 90 years in 2012.  A bottle of Chanel No.5 is sold every 30 seconds.

After doing a bit of research I realized that I was also able to pay homage to my favourite Pop artist Andy Warhol, who's anniversary of his death also coincides with the milestone year of 25. And tomorrow, he would have turned 84.

The Chanel No. 5 bottle, over decades, has itself become an identifiable cultural artefact, so much so that Andy Warhol chose to commemorate its iconic status in the mid-1980s with pop-art silk-screens.  Even empty, the bottle are highly collectable. It would take me more than two weeks to acquire one on eBay that was not going to cost upwards of $20. For it's 75th anniversary, Chanel issued a special edition of No.5 using one of Warhol's serigraph images on the box that holds the decanter. The title for the painting was inspired by the famous Warhol quote, ''In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes''. 

The image of Monroe used in the painting appears on the cover the slip case of a massive two-volume book set entitled ''Modern Art'', published by Taschen in 2011. (Marilyn, 1964, silkscreen on canvas 40'' x 40'' by Andy Warhol). I came across these books at the Museum Shop of the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC during a visit this past Easter. Since I was travelling light with only a backpack, at a hefty 11 lbs, I opted to buy it on-line through Amazon.com upon my return. For this composition I used a crystal ball much like a clairvoyant would do to channel their spirits. The lives of all three did become intertwined because of their fame. All three are iconic figures of popular culture for the significant contribution to the arts.

On a personal note- Monroe died in 1962, seven months after I was born. Warhol died on February 22 1987, the same month I completed my first original painting. In 2006, we vacationed three days in Oiron, France to visit a family friend living there. We spent a full afternoon in Saumur where Coco Chanel was born, visiting châteaux along the Loire River in this very scenic town with black slate roofs.

This painting will be exhibited in ''The Still Life'' Invitational group show during the month of October at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California. Details to follow.

Elliott Fouts Gallery
1831 P. Street Sacramento, California, USA , 95811 

-SOLD

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

Acrylic on gessoed hardboard, 12 x 12''

2010 - #187

Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol both died during years that are significant in my own existence. Monroe died 7 months on the same year I was born while Warhol died on the same month I did my first painting (February, 1987). This painting is double whammy of sorts, as a homage to both Andy Warhol and Marilyn Monroe. This composition just kind of happened by itself after finishing a photo session for an upcoming painting. The mini notebook with Marilyn Monroe on it's cover was delivered earlier that day by FedEx along with a my new stainless steel architect lamp from Crate & Barrel for my studio. The moment I started to play with props, the whole narrative came into light.

Warhol' s resonating, brilliant colored silksceens of Marilyn Monroe are some of his most iconic images. Warhol said: '' In August 1962 I started doing silkscreens. I wanted something stronger that gave more of an assembly line effect. With silkscreening you pick a photograph, blow it up, transfer it in glue onto silk, and then roll ink across it so the ink goes through the silk but not through the glue. That way you get the same image, slightly different each time. It was all so simple-quick and chancy. I was thrilled with it. When Marilyn Monroe happened to die that month, I got the idea to make screens of her beautiful face''. Andy Warhol would continue to do variation of this silkscreen of Monroe during the 1960's. The image of Marilyn was from a publicity still for the movie Niagara (1953). In this painting the image is from Warhol's ''Shot Orange Marilyn'',1964, 40 x 40'' (detail).

This painting pays tribute to Monroe and her other films done in 1952-1953. The title for the painting is a line from the lyrics of ''Diamonds are forever'' from the film ''Gentlemen prefer blonds'' (1953) co-starring Jane Russell. This specific song/dance number in the film remains one of greatest moment of the musical era's golden age of cinema. It would later serve as the inspiration behind Madonna's video for ''Material girl'' . Park Place/Boardwalk are the highest priced pieces of real estate on the Monopoly board game and with it's diamond ring in the middle it refers to ''How to Marry a Millionaire''(1953). The monkey from a Barrel of Monkeys is referring to her comedy, ''Monkey Business'' (1952), co-starring Cary Grant and Ginger Rogers.

Marilyn Monroe remains to this date one of the most famous person in the world. Almost 50 years after her mysterious death, she remains as popular as ever. Her persona and beauty has captured the attention and hearts of millions and she has become an iconic figure in popular culture. This immense list on Wikipedia is but a sample of how her legacy lives on through other mediums. Click HERE. I read a biography on her more than 20 year ago, and got the sense that she was often misunderstood. Her difficult childhood would often return to haunt her throughout her life and personnal trials. She could play a dumb blond like no body's business, but she was also a gifted actress and the camera loved her.

I've always had this fascination about her as long as I can remember. I leave you with a few of Marilyn Monroe's quotes-
-Dreaming about being an actress, is more exciting then being one.

-Fame will go by and, so long, I've had you, fame. If it goes by, I've always known it was fickle. So at least it's something I experience, but that's not where I live.

-I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent.

-My work is the only ground I've ever had to stand on. I seem to have a whole superstructure with no foundation but I'm working on the foundation.

-Being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.

-I don't know who invented high heels, but all women owe him a lot.

-What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.

-If I'm a star, then the people made me a star.

-SOLD