Flores Greserv C90 (1 results)

NA. Condition: Good. Brightly colored, exuberant specimen of Mexican Folk Art, depicting peasants and their shacks. The human figures, 20 in all, are highly stylized, with many shown in profile reminiscent of Ancient Egyptian human representations. A few of the peasants are shown looking head-on. The figures are also from one or two molds -- the same image is repeated, more or less, but with the dress varied, mainly in the choice of colors. Most of the human figures are barefoot, with a few wearing sandals, as surely would have been the everyday experience of rural life at same time and place. The peasants are arranged in a field with semi-abstract representations of flowers, stalks and seedlings. Amidst the people there is a single ox. Some of the peasants look as if they're waving at us. While generally the peasants look impassive or expressionless, a few have the look of agitatoin. The painting is rendered without perspective, and we think this was a deliberate choice, reinforcing the naive feel of the painting as a whole. Above all else, it is the colors that stand out, with their rich clarity and immediacy. Surrounding the figurative imagery of the peasants and their hovels, there are four, or more, decorative bands, also distinctively colored, with mostly geometric repeats, the outer band (inside two ruled lines) linking orange flowers with wavy green frondes. The painting is on vellum that is very papyrus-like. The artwork is signed "Flores", with the first part of the signature, "Greserv C90", an enigma to us. N.d., circa 1930. Condition: moderate to heavy, here and there, soiling. A few minor tears.