Saturday, April 11, 2009

Antony & Cleo-p-p-patra

This then was one of the crown jewels from the treasure trove:

This drawing left my possession years ago, this scan from a photocopy that I made, but I've since seen it printed in the Wood biography, Against the Grain, captioned as a 1970s portfolio piece. I have to wonder if it was more than that. It has a hint of the old Kurtzman flavor. What was this for? It seems a bit derivative of older stuff. I feel like I've seen it somewhere but I can't place it. On the face of it, because of the sketch, it seems related to his late '60s era. Then too, I read these days of Wood's assistants having created work in his name. I don't know what to make of it.

Several years after my big purchase, I had opportunity to talk about it with Gil Kane. Mysteriously, he advised me to be cautious in my assessment of holdings that I got from Wood. When I asked why, all he would say (and this was several years after Wood's death) was that Woody had demons that took him to strange places and ways of doing things. But what did that mean, I asked. And Kane changed the subject.

Well, my thread has come to its end.  To this day I have no idea what this Cleo-p-p-patra art was for. But it sure is a beauty.

2 comments:

joe ackerman said...

that's a terrific picture.

you met Gil Kane?!!! wow, how jealous am I?

this is a nice blog, man. I'm genuinely suprised I've not been here before.

Thomas Haller Buchanan said...

Hey thanks!

I will be posting some Gil Kane art that I got from him, back in the 80s, both as commissions and existing pieces.