Henry Faulkner Folk Oil Painting of Italian Courtyard, 1977
Item Details
Henry Faulkner (American, 1924 – 1981)
Untitled (Italian courtyard) , 1977
Oil painting on Masonite
Signed to lower right
Provenance
Scout Antiques & Modern, Lexington, Kentucky.
An oil painting on Masonite by celebrated Folk artist Henry Faulkner, created in 1977. This quite inviting painting features one of Faulkner’s signature subjects, an Italian courtyard. The artist made his first trip to Italy in 1961, and from thereon adopted several Italian and Byzantine motifs and subjects into his work. This work exhibits Faulkner’s tendency to paint on black, instead of the typical white gesso ground, which was a technique he adopted in the mid 1960s. This resulted in vivid colors, and instead of delineating his shapes with outlines, they emerged from the black ground as spaces of black were left to separate and define his shapes.
Importantly, this painting is also presented in its original chestnut frame chosen by the artist. Faulkner would often purchase discarded frames from thrift stores and antique shops, then repurposed these modest, simple frames to adorn his whimsical and vibrant compositions.
Faulkner was born in rural Egypt, Kentucky in 1924. An orphan, and listless wanderer, the artist lived a bohemian lifestyle and eventually arrived in Lexington, Kentucky, where he was primarily known. A lifetime of travel took him to Key West, Taormina, Italy, New York, and California where he befriended the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Ezra Pound, and many other literary and artistic dignitaries along the way. Anecdotes abound of his pet goat and oft-recurring subject in his work, Alice, with whom he drove to Florida, took to his gallery openings, and elsewhere. He is remembered as a complicated modernist, who left a body of work in paintings and poetry, and a fond impression by most who met him.
Condition
- negligible accretion to painting surface; wear to board edges at frame; negligible cracking, chipping and finish loss to frame, examined under UV light.
Dimensions
- measures frame; board measures approximately 16.25" W x 8.75" H.
Item #
ITMGC61028
