Untitled Portrait from “The Mudd Club” Series

William Coupon

1979

  • Titles Untitled Portrait from "The Mudd Club" Series (Proper)
  • Artist William Coupon, American, born 1952
  • Medium gelatin silver print
  • Dimensions sheet: 19 3/4 x 15 7/8 in. (50.2 x 40.3 cm) image: 11 x 11 in. (27.9 x 27.9 cm)
  • Credit Line Gift of Robert S. Dishmond in honor of Douglas and Tita Hyland, 1991.739, image © William Coupon. Used by permission.
  • Work Type photograph
  • Classification Photographs

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On two side by side panels, black star-like shapes appear on a brown background.
Flag on brownish-red satin with image of St. Claire holding a monstrance against a blue background. Sequins are hand-dyed, and uneven in color. On either side of her halo are the words St. CLAIRE, the Catholic saint associated with the Haitian "loa" Ayizan.
The painting's foreground is reddish pink. A red "horizon" line delineates this section and a pale pink background. A linear arrangement of Images/objects stand at the horizon. Most are recognizable and recurrent Guston objects: a pair of skinny, upturned legs in hobnail shoes, a knife blade, portion of a brick chimney or wall, a tool handle, the back of a stretched, oval canvas. Other areas are simply shapes or areas of paint. A red-outlined rectangle hovers at the painting's top left. Rendered in a palate of queasy rose and gray with punches of green, orange, and ochre, this cryptic configuration is compositionally direct, like a comic panel.