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Lot #14 - Dick Frizzell

  • Auction House:
    Mossgreen-Webb's
  • Sale Name:
    The Peter Jarvis & Helene Phillips Collection
  • Sale Date:
    30 Nov 2017 ~ 6.30pm (New Zealand Daylight Time)
  • Lot #:
    14
  • Lot Description:
    Dick Frizzell
    The Female Phantom
    oil on canvas, 1999
    1500mm x 1800mm
    signed FRIZZELL, inscribed THE FEMALE PHANTOM and dated 9/5/99 in brushpoint lower left
  • Notes:
    ESSAY: Paintings like Whaam! (1963), by American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), emulated the techniques of comic book illustrators and mechanical reproduction to represent violence and drama in a detached way. Locally, Dick Frizzell took the same approach, painting homages to Buck Rogers, Captain America, Superman with Lois Lane and even Felix the Cat. As well as nostalgically remembering the grip that these cartoon creations had on his childhood imagination, Frizzell worked to overcome the cultural prejudice against comic books as a low form of art. Frizzell’s favourite character is Lee Falk’s 1952 creation, The Phantom, drawn first by Wilson McCoy and then, after his death in 1961, by Sy Barry. Considering Kit Walker and his exploits worthy of heroic treatment, Frizzell remembers “I painted up a portrait of a cannibal chief from a Phantom comic as if I was Goldie portraying a Māori chief”. Frizzell’s large-scale dramatic treatment emphasises the aura of an original work of art in an age of mechanical reproduction. The Phantom is always characterised by a skin-tight costume displaying his epic muscularity, while a cowl and eye mask protect his identity. Here he is joined by his identically dressed wife, Diana, both of them finding it remarkable how the costume of the 18th Phantom’s twin sister, Julie, fits her modern body. Frizzell’s is a close but not exact copy of the original cartoon, which Falk devised to broaden The Phantom’s demographic appeal. As a joke, Frizzell puts his own name on the cover of one of the books on the shelf in the Chronicle Chamber, inscribing himself into the superhero’s backstory. Frizzell’s composition focuses attention on the svelte figure of Diana, who is about to aid The Phantom in flushing out some bank robbers hiding in the Deep Woods. Pointedly, Frizzell has chosen the moment before the action for its momentous and surprising challenge to traditional gender roles. Later, Diana disappointed Lee Falk’s loyal readership by renouncing any claim on Phantom-hood, declaring: “From now on, I’ll just be a female!” Linda Tyler
  • Estimate:
    NZ$40,000 - 60,000
  • Realised Price:
    *****

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  • Category:
    Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.



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