The Enumerated Thain, Volume 3

Ahhh, victory! Or at least what passes for victory in these parts.

I refer, of course, to the finished "The Enumerated Thain." Which would, of course, be this:



It's small (24"x30"), but it has its moments.

And I know you've never seen this:



Fraught with the spirit of whoever that kid was who painted in the Armani suits--Basquiat!--I painted this when I was still living in Chelsea. I came upon a discarded pallet (which made me think of my friend Dave's father, Bill, who was, as I understood it, up to his elbows in pallets on a regular basis), wrapped it in canvas (which is why it's off center, plus you can see the little feet sticking out of the bottom, on the left), goobered on some photo print-outs of recent work (look at what was passing for recent work at the time!), added some copy and, of course, finished with the same Mastercard joke that informs "The Enumerated Thain."

I showed "Pricelist!" someplace upstate--I think in Phoenecia--and then forgot to go get it. I wonder if they still have it.

Anyway, I love the prices. 17 grand for "The Ecstasy of St. Theresa" (mislabeled on the painting as "The Lamentations of...") showed, I think, great self-confidence at the time (2005, maybe?). Likewise 11 Gs for "Close, But Not Quite." Today? A steal.

The point of the Basquiat thing can be seen here:



Tiny image--sorry--but you can see how he just took some lumber and slapped it together so that it would hold a square of canvas. The stuff was often enough cheap molding or 1x3s. Once you wrap the canvas onto the frame, nail it down and gesso it, it's surprising how well it sticks together.

Bigger image, slightly different story:



But you can see along the bottom how the canvas has conformed to just one plank being laid on top of another at the corners. Can you see it?

Now go back up to "Pricelist" and check it out again. I need to do more of that stuff.