Untitled Figures
- Oil on Board
-
22 x 30 x 0.1875 in
(55.88 x 76.2 x 0.48 cm)
- $3,500
- Maurice Golubov
This work by Maurice Golubov, is an oil painting on board, and consists of a red, green, white, grey and brown color palette. This style of art is expressionist and figurative, with about six or seven discerned representational figures depicted. Perhaps the most discernible figure, positioned in the middle of the composition, stands taller than the others beside it and is painted with a lighter color green than the rest, helping the figure to stand out more so than the other muted green figures. One or two of the figures, on the left and below/in front the tallest figure, appear to be bent over or positioned on the implied ground, aiding in gaining the viewers attention by posing a question regarding what the figures could be doing. The artist uses broad and undefined brush strokes in an abstract manner to obtain a sense of movement and liveliness among the figures. Although the work has no narrative or specific thematics, the figurative subject matter and stylistic choices give the work an overall feeling of unity and engagement. The color scheme also works to imply a sort of togetherness within the composition, as they are all painted with similar colors and similar brush strokes upon a partially visible red background.
Maurice Golubov (1905-1987) was an abstract painter during the 20th century. Born in Russia, his family moved to the United States when he was about 10 years old. On his 13th birthday, he received paper, paint, crayons and pencils and that's when his appreciation for the arts developed. That year he joined an evening art class taught by the artist John Sloan, who was very supportive and encouraging of Golubov's pursuits. A year later he dropped out of high school to fully pursue an artistic career and shortly after landed a job at a commercial art studio. After a year at his job, he was encouraged to apply for art school and was accepted into the National Academy of Design. He practiced painting portraits, still-life works, landscapes, and figurative works and described his artistic career as Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, because he hid his abstract pieces from others, afraid of ridicule. It wasn't until his early 20's that he fully accepted his admiration for abstract painting; he gives credit to some of the transcendental literature and poetry he was reading at the time; "It turned me more and more towards the unseen and so called abstract world that I sought to express in plastic terms." From then on, he created beautiful abstract works until his death in 1987 and became an important influence within the modern art movement of the 20th century.
- Framed: 27.5 x 35.25 x 1.375 in (69.85 x 89.54 x 3.49 cm)
- Subject Matter: figures
- Collections: 1st Dibs Holiday Sale 2023, 1stDibs, Artworks for December 2022 Opening - Upstairs