A eulogy is located uptown at 980 Madison Ave., which is situated between 76th and 77th Street. In the upcoming months, Gagosian plans to permanently close its Madison Avenue location, and The Street is a fitting farewell. Originally intended for the Musee d’Orsay, painter-turned-curator Peter Doig brought together artists from different eras and places to investigate the urban environment.
Doig, an internationally renowned painter from Edinburgh who has established himself in major collections for decades and set auction records, derives his title, The Street, from the show’s centerpiece, a 1933 painting by Balthus. Despite being owned by the MoMA, this early masterpiece by the French Master has not been on display since 2000. This painting is appropriately repositioned by Doig, who views its implications as a singular curatorial undertaking.
Balthus (Baltusz Klossowski de Rola) The Street, 1933. MOMA Collection (https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80582)
Frank Auerbach’s (1931–2024) 1976 Rimbaud, on loan from the Tate, hangs to Balthus’ left. Ten days after the Gagosian opening, Auerbach, the leading painter of the School of London, passed away. Because it shows an effigy to the 19th-century poet—a scene Auerbach closely observed in the streets of London—the painting is now twice as eerie as a ghost. Like all of Auerbach’s paintings, this one is difficult. Lines are fiercely pasted here and there, and paint is poured on. In a world of viscous paint, Rimbaud himself is like a meme.
Rimbaud and Frank Auerbach
1975–1976, Tate Gallery Collection
The URL is https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/auerbach-rimbaud-t06688
In addition to The Street on the right is an early, unusual piece by Mark Rothko, Untitled, 1936. His late, heroic color field paintings are not foreshadowed by this image. Instead, we witness a young artist trying to create his visual world by gazing at the city streets. Flat, tonal passages are used to describe the urban landscape. A statue is in the foreground, there appears to be an elevated line, and the moon is clearly visible above. Here, we witness the urban experience as experienced by three important painters in Paris, London, and New York, as the exhibition’s premise implies.
These three images are essential to the show: urban painters indulge a consequential painter’s aesthetic preferences while bringing new insights to their surroundings. Become familiar with Francis Bacon, Hélion, and de Chirico. Or find Lotte Maiwald, Satoshi Kojima, or Prunella Clough, as I did. Doig has taught in Düsseldorf, where Kojima (born 1979) and Maiwald (born 1988) are both active.
British Prunella Clough, 1919–1999
Mesh with Glove I
1980, 91 x 71 cm, oil on canvas
9511-prunella-clough-mesh-with-glove-i-1980/ https://www.annelyjudafineart.co.uk/artists/35-prunella-clough/works/
Among the numerous connections to be found here, two paintings of Max Beckman and Denzil Forrester (born in 1956) are particularly intriguing. On loan from St. Louis, Beckmann’s Film Studio, 1933, shows the crowded, dim interior of the emerging film industry. Forrester’s Tribute to Winston Rose, 1982, is reflected in its angular divisions and mysterious spaces. Here, we see views of the city outside a congested, dark interior. Enjoy the conversation because these are pieces by two artists that we won’t see together again.
Winston Rose Tribute by Denzil Forrester, 1982.
35-Denzil Forrester: https://www.stephenfriedman.com/artists/
Without Doig’s unique perspective, significant pieces from public collections would not have been grouped together. Visit the exhibition to be amazed by Auerbach, perplexed by de Chirico, troubled by Bacon, and enchanted by Doig himself—in fact, he included two of his own paintings. Unfortunately, The Street stands out among the many clumsy attempts to blend the art of the early and middle 20th century with the art of the present.