Beschreibung:

Mel Ramos Rokeby Venus (Velazquez Version) 1975 oil on canvas 44 x 66 in. (111.8 x 167.6 cm.) Signed and dated "Mel Ramos 75" on the reverse.
Provenance Ursula Niggemann, Dusseldorf, acquired from the artist Private Collection, 1975 Sotheby's, New York, Contemporary Art Day Auction, May 15, 2008, lot 316 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner Exhibited Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Sammlung Helga und Walther Lauffs - Amerikanische und Europäische Kunst der Sechziger und Siebziger Jahre, November 1983 - April 1984 Literature Sammlung Helga und Walther Lauffs - Amerikanische und Europäische Kunst der Sechziger und Siebziger Jahre, exh. cat., Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, 1984, cat. no. 278 T. Levy, Mel Ramos Heroines, Goddesses, Beauty Queens, Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 2002, p. 219 (illustrated) D. Kuspit & L. Meisel, Mel Ramos Pop-Art Fantasies, The Complete Paintings, New York, 2004, p. 151 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay "All of my work sums up the fact that I really love women.” Mel Ramos 2002 Mel Ramos a Sacramento native, is one of the most renowned West Coast Pop artists. Ramos’ paintings of superheroes and pinups were exhibited alongside the works of Roy Lichtenstein Andy Warhol Claes Oldenburg Wayne Thiebaud and James Rosenquist As opposed to artists like Lichtenstein and Warhol, who utilized the Ben-Day-dots and silk-screening technique, Ramos embraced the content of Pop Art while still executing his paintings in a mock Old Master artistic manner. As a student of Wayne Thiebaud Ramos earned critical appreciation early in his career and described, “In 1960 I was wallowing in despair when I gave up painting abstract expressionism and painted something that I used to love as a kid, American Super Heroes, and I did a painting of Superman. My life changed, Pop Art was born and I was caught up in the energy of it all.” (M. Folds, “Making the Most of Everything” in Mel Ramos/Artist Interview, Ragzine.cc, volume 10, Number 2) Ramos, along with Tom Wesselmann tapped into the tradition of the art historical nude through the lens of American Pop Art. Together Ramos and Wesselmann “Americanized” the female nude figure and shifted the classical nude towards a more modern image of an American bombshell. Depicted with flawlessly tanned skin, luscious hair, pristinely whitened teeth, and winsome eyes, Ramos’ figures are straight out of an American pinup poster. By placing female nudes alongside consumer products and relocating them in art historical settings, Ramos created masterfully glossy compositions with an edge of comical flirtation. Ramos’ leggy female nudes are the essence of a carefree, tanned, California girl, often juxtaposed with commercial commodities, and infused with a healthy dose of American lewdness. Ramos has commented, “Of course there has been a long tradition in art of painting nude women, ranging from Rubens to Ingres, among many, many others.” (T.Levy, “Conversation between Mel Ramos and Belinda Grace Gardner in Dusseldorf, Germany (Spring, 2002) in Mel Ramos Heroines, Goddesses, Beauty Queens, Bielefeld: Kerber Verlag, 2002, p. 219). The present lot Rokeby Venus, is a modern interpretation of Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece and highlights Ramos’ painterly interests. Ramos explains that “For as long as I can remember, I was very fond of Spanish Painting, Velasquez, Goya, Salvador Dali. When I was fourteen I discovered Dali and I was amazed at his painting skills. It made me want to be an artist. I have always been interested in drawing the figure and I think of myself as a figure painter.” (M. Folds, “Making the Most of Everything” in Mel Ramos/Artist Interview, Ragzine.cc, volume 10, Number 2) The present lot depicts Venus lying in a sensual pose, lounging on crumpled, silky blue sheets. The luxurious folds in the bed sheets sweep across the composition, echoing the female form and emphasizing the curves of Venus‘ waist, thighs and back. In Velázquez’s painting Venus, the god of love is gazing into a mirror held up by her son Cupid, the Roman god of physical love. Velázquez’s Venus is rendered with brown hair while traditionally