Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Art in the Winner's Circle

Recently, our favorite flamboyant horse racing blogger, John of Not to the Swift fame, perused the SI Vault and shared with us various equine art that graced the cover of Sports Illustrated many, many years ago, long before anybody invented LZR swimsuits or Michael Jordan. John demonstrated his extensive art intellect regarding notable artists Morton Roberts and Daniel Schwartz, expressing savvy insights of Edgar Degas and/or Pink Squirrel influence.

Coincidentally, Genius Alan displayed his art smarts after an evening at the Queens Museum. I was most impressed with the conceptually eloquent piece by Denzel Washington that was made out of old clothes. If I had the temerity to clean out my husband's sock drawer, there's a possibility that I could embark on some art odyssey; a piece entitled Texan Defeet that would be worthy of display at some roadside crawdad stand in Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Anyway, my Thoroughbred blogging kindred have inspired me to share with you equine art from my own personal collection, especially my newest acquisition, Camel Time.


I recently purchased this piece of artwork for the whopping price of $0.99. It is a 1964 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company advertisement that reads, "The race is over. She's made the winner's circle. It's Camel time right now." Featured in the piece is the spatial relationship of an attractive owner and her handsome stakes-winning chestnut horse, both of whom are enjoying what is clearly a Camel cigarette. The flowers draped on the horse's withers are red carnations, which in 1964, were awarded to the winner of the Buford T. Snodgrass Memorial Stakes at Garden State Park in New Jersey, along with a carton of cigarettes. Or maybe not.

Of course, I'm not as articulate in my art critique as some as my other horse racing brethren, however I have discovered a useful tool, The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator. Thus, I can remark with complete confidence in regards to the piece, Camel Time, the subaqueous qualities of the purity of line makes resonant the distinctive formal juxtapositions.

6 comments:

Valerie Grash said...

Not to mention that it is muy aesthetically pleasing. Love the Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator! Thanks for the link to it—my colleagues and students will get a real kick out of it.

Wind Gatherer said...

Although I am not a painter, I think that the mechanical mark-making of the spatial relationships threatens to penetrate the inherent overspecificity.

Brilliant!

John said...

Great poster, too bad the horse wasn't smoking the cigarette, now that would be art.

Anonymous said...

Despite the magnificent Marlboro Cup series (won by every heighweight super horse of the 1970's) being so named for the Philip Morris tobacco brand I don't think they ever used a race horse in any ads. They missed an opportunity!

White Camry said...

Of course, at first casual glance that blanket of red flowers could mean only one race.

Hint: it's not run at Garden State Park.

suebroux said...

White Camry: How keenly observant you are! You are absolutely correct, and I did the same thing; a casual glance at the ad insinuated Derby shtick. However, the Mad Men used red carnations as not to infringe on an actual Derby winner (or something like that, I speculate).