Existing comment:
Wally Hedrick
born Pasadena, CA 1928 - died Bodega Bay, CA
2003
Madame Nhu's Bar-B-Qs1963
oil on canvas
The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Museum purchase, Unrestricted Art Acquisition Endowment Income Fund, 2004.95
Hedrick's painting refers to the Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức and his self-immolation protesting the South Vietnamese government's oppression of Buddhists. The monk's death was broadcast to the world via indelible photographs of him engulfed in flames. Madame Nhu's Bar-B-Qs mentions Trần LệXuân (known to Americans as Madame Nhu), a member of South Vietnam's ruling family and part of the Catholic minority. After the monk's suicide, she said she was "willing to provide the gasoline for the next barbeque." The painting invokes the Catholic Sacred Heart and quotes a Buddhist mantra, contrasting both the sacred humanity of Christ and the compassion of Buddha with Trần LệXuân's caustic remark. |