Existing comment:
Bathrobe
Jim Dine, born 1935
Jim Dine, whose work often depicts objects with which he feels a personal association, adopted the motif of the bathrobe as a self-portrait after spotting one in an advertisement in the New York Times in 1964. For Dine, the image was more than just a found object. As he explained, "There was nobody in the bathrobe, but when I saw it, it looked like me." Shortly thereafter, the robe became the basis for an exhibition of paintings at the Sidney Janis Gallery. The robe also served as the motif for the artist's first foray into etching. As though reflecting his pride in his early command of a medium that he would describe as "drawing with acid," the bent elbows of the robe -- conveying the invisible gesture of an artist with his hands on his hips -- seem to signal youthful satisfaction.
1964 |