Dana Schutz

Zach Feuer Gallery, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

New York, Zach Feuer Gallery, Holy Coulis and Dana Schutz, 2002
London, Royal Academy of Arts, USA Today, New American Art from the Saatchi Gallery, 2006, p. 336, illustrated in colour

Jonathan Cape, Ed., The Triumph of Painting, London 2005, p. 204, illustrated in colour

Colour: The overall tonality of the background and the figure's sweater tends more towards different shades of blue, and her face and hair are lighter in the original. The catalogue illustration fails to fully convey the thickly impastoed surface towards the centre of the composition. Condition: This work is in very good condition. There are some very light drying cracks to the figure's turtleneck. No restoration is apparent when examined under ultraviolet light.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

In her painting Albino, Dana Schutz presents us with a grotesque portrait of a woman conjured from her fervent imagination. It is at once captivating and unsettling. The subject engages boldly with the modern viewer, more used to depictions of traditional beauty and desire.

Rendered in thick impasto and as much sculpted as painted, layers of brushstrokes are built upon each other, colliding and combining till they give life to the subject. Schutz defined her approach as “painting in a way that was similar to building, stacking one brushstroke on top of the other” (Dana Schutz quoted in: Exhibition Catalogue, New York, If the Face Had Wheels, 2011, p.86.) There is clear relish in the application of paint, from the contrast of the washed out whiteness of the figure set against the inky blackness of the clothing she wears to how the hair of the subject seemingly melts into the ethereal background of the work.

Having created this affecting figure, Schutz passes no direct judgment, instead she presents herself as an anthropologist or chronicler, recording the imagined existence of this person and inviting the viewer to form a definitive opinion. Any context for the work is purposely obscured; we are destined never to know how this figure came to be before us, or why they stare at us so intently. This figure has been created for the simplest and purest reason, to give life to an idea that would otherwise not exist.