?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 75,000 - $ 100,000
BARKLEY L. HENDRICKS (1945 - ) The Hawk, Blah, Blah, Blah.
Oil and DayGlo on linen canvas, 1970. 1270x1067 mm; 50x48 inches. Signed and dated in oil, upper right recto. Titled in ink on the upper stretcher bar, verso.
Provenance: the artist; Kenmore Galleries, Philadelphia, with the gallery label on the frame back; private collection, Philadelphia (1970). The current owners purchased this painting at the artist's first solo exhibition at Kenmore Galleries.
Exhibited: Barkley Hendricks, Kenmore Galleries, Philadelphia, 1970; Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Phildelphia, September 18 - December 20, 2009.
This striking portrait by Barkley L. Hendricks was painted at the beginning of his career defining body of work in life-size figurative canvases. Made just after he returned to Philadelphia from his studies at Yale University, the artist recalled that this portrait is of a friend, Edgar, a popular Philadelphia radio DJ at the time. He was known as "The Hawk," who often punctuated his on-air commentary with the expression "Blah, Blah, Blah." The fluorescent color of the DayGlo background shows Hendricks's interest in acrylics and appreciation of Pop Art. It also contrasts with his earthy tones and the academic realism of the figure.
