Sculpture: Bull Pen by Marx

I really love the sculptures of Louis Marx.  My number-one favorite army man of all time is the blue walking cavalry man by Marx.  The Marx plastic toys are detailed, realistic and well made.  These once common figures are collectible, and inferior reproductions have shown up in the market.

This is “Bull Pen Boo Boo,” a baseball pitcher for the BUMS.  He’s part of the “Nutty Mads” series, 1963-64.  He’s mad crazy and mad angry.  And about to deliver a bean ball, so watch out…a bean ball to home plate, or maybe first base?  Who?

The Nutty Mads sculptures are about six inches tall, and made of injection molded polymer plastic.  This one is from Series 2.  Today, its value has increased to $20 or $40 on eBay from the original 13 cents in 1963.

The artistic inspiration for the Nutty Mads has to be recognized in the art of Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, (remember Rat Fink?)  Other influences could be the cartoons of Basil Wolverton and Don Martin, according to Wikipedia!, and “reportedly based on original designs created by veteran Mad Magazine artist Jack Davis.[citation needed]”

Louis Marx, “toycoon,” ran the world’s largest toy company in the 1950s.  In 1972, he sold the company for $54 million.  I have been unable to document that Marx himself did any sculpting, so let’s call this, “studio of Louis Marx,” to be completely honest.

OK, so I’ll admit it.  This athletic figure reminds my of my own physique, the one-pack abs and the robust complexion.

Admiring this statue reminds that I am part of what is common to all men, what it is to be human.  Aren’t we all Nutty Mad?

Mountain Range: El Cotopaxi

A pink painting of a volcano in South America was signed by Mitorales(?) This could be a tourist souvenir, showing Cotopaxi, part of the Andes in Ecuador.  The size is 7.5 by 10 inches, smaller than a piece of copier paper.

Like the Green Field painting, a pastoral scene in the foreground is backed by mountains the color of the sky.  Take a closer look (detail below.)  How about those sheep?  Little scoops of ice cream, pencil necks and triangle heads.  Well, maybe that’s what woolly lambs look like.  There’s a lot of detail, and the paintbrush must be very fine.

Compare these houses to the Green Field painting.  These buildings are the same size, but really do show what each side looks like with layers of colors.  Maybe it was painted fast, but the painter knows what needs to be there.  Could it be due to painting the same picture themes over and over for tourists?

The tiny birds use five colors each and at least eight brush strokes.  That’s not lazy.  Dang, those trees have branches and more than four colors of leaves.

These people live under the threat of eruption, tending their animals, working in the yard.  They pay no attention to the massive volcano on the horizon.  It seems like an idyllic life, simple and peaceful.  The pink peak fades into the lovely sky.

Can something so quiet and beautiful be cause for concern?

Mountain Range: green field

This is a painting on canvas board (12 x 16 .)  It’s half blue and half green.  The lush green is what catches your eye, but the light blue sea, sky and mountains make an important backdrop.

The artist Mary Portisch signed the lower right corner.  It’s dated ’69 (or maybe ’65 or ’68.)

Two theories:  Painted her own yard from life _or_ painted from a vacation photograph taken from the side of the road.  This is a real place, not like something that was invented from imagination.

The foreground fence posts have a wire that blends into the stone-lined path behind.  That makes me think it’s from a photo, because there’s no artistic reason to do that. The plain geometry of the posts and the building shapes contrasts the realistic mountains and the inviting green field.  The artist loves nature not the man-made additions to the landscape.

Isn’t it funny that the best observations occur in the narrow strip along the horizon?  Did you see the island?

This scene invites you in by gravity.  You’d tumble down the hill into the middle, except there are all those cross lines blocking you.  You’re being held out.  You’re behind the fence.

Longing for the unreachable blue mountains beyond the sea…

 

 

Mountain Range: purple majesty

In the current exhibition, Mountain Range, this painting is the hardest to capture with a camera.  In person, the colors glow together like a pinky golden moment at twilight.  I especially like the gray pink atmosphere, because I’ve seen it in life, but can’t paint it.  In person, the sun is less stark.

The glory of the sun, reflected in the lake, seems to be cradled in a throne of mountain peaks.  Makes me think of a city on a hill.  Or a Close Encounter.

This painting was purchased at a local thrift store.  The colors caught my attention, and I had to come back to buy it.  Plus a black velvet frame liner!

I hesitate to put this in the category of Starving Artist, meaning those mass produced furniture paintings sold on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  It’s not an amateur art work, and it’s steps beyond Bob Ross.

The brush strokes are thick and dry-ish, and there are palette knife scrapes.  The wettest part, appropriately, is the water.

The artist signature seems to read, g Seelcatz, but some letters are embellished.  I have not found any background info.