John Currin
American, born 1962
THREE FRIENDS, 1998
Oil on linen
Purchased with funds from the Coffin Fine Arts Trust and partial gift of Wendy Evans Joseph in memory of her late husband Peter T. Joseph and his passion for ballet; Nathan Emory Coffin. Collection of the Des Moines Art Center, 2001.27
This style of this painting recreates European Mannerism of the 16th century, characterized by figures with elongated limbs and complex, even unnatural postures. It is also inspired by the voluptuous pinups of the 1940s-50s, most famously illustrated by Alberto Vargas. The women depict the three Graces of Greek mythology, Aglaia, Euphrosyne, and Thalia, who personified beauty, joy, and abundance. "Honestly, it's always me remembering an old master and combining it with contemporary ad image," says Currin. "Those are the two things that compel me." This synthesis of the historical and the modern gives the painting an edgy quality, impressive in its mastery of the medium and classical subject, yet unseemly with its intentionally sleazy eroticism. The imagery both celebrates and challenges the traditional role of the female nude as an object of desire in art.
