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| Carmen |
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| Artist: | Rolf Armstrong |
| Date: | 1929 |
| Medium: | Oil on Canvas |
| Dimensions: | Sight Size 60" by 80" Framed 68" by 88" |
| Condition: | Excellent |
| Original Use: | Calendar Art for Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company |
| Price: | $120,000.00 O N S A L E $80,000.00
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| Above: Full view |
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| Above: The artist's signature |
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| Above: The artist Rolf Armstrong at work creating Carmen |
Grapefruit Moon Gallery is delighted to offer "Carmen," an epically scaled, deeply erotic masterwork by Rolf Armstrong. This was the last in a series of four larger than life monumental art deco oil paintings the artist created for the Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company between the years 1925 - 1929. Upon his return from Paris in 1923, the young pin-up artist began creating large scale technically adept erotic oil paintings likely inspired by the Parisian salon movement. "Carmen" is one of Armstrong's finest and most recognizable creations. Wildly risque for the era, a version was published as a condom wrapper (though with the artist's signature conspicuously absent), and Brown & Bigelow used the image for calendar art throughout the early 1930s.
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| Above: Detail of model posed as Carmen |
In the 1980s, the grandchildren of Rolf Armstrong's dear friend, sailing companion, and investment advisor Walter Dayton Sr. began inquiring about the art that had been stored away for decades in the family home. Among a collection of smaller pastels by Rolf Armstrong, they came upon four large oil-on-canvas paintings: "The Enchantress," "The Song of India," "Arabian Nights" and "Carmen." Armstrong had left them with Dayton Sr. who then left them to his son Walter Dayton Jr. (whom Armstrong called the closest thing he ever had to a son). The family chose to keep one of the four colossal paintings, and settled upon "Carmen," which was both their favorite and the best preserved, having suffered comparatively little paint loss and damage in the time it spent rolled in the Dayton attic. This large oil painting has been stretched unto custom made stretchers and has benefited from cleaning and conservation by Julius Lowy Restoration in New York City.
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| Above: Framed view |
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| Above: Frame detail |
This historically significant and rare surviving oil painting from the absolute zenith of Armstrong's long and prolific career is beautifully framed and retains its original Brown & Bigelow label on the verso. A vintage 1929 calendar print is included in the sale. We will also include the photograph of Armstrong in his New York studio creating "Carmen." This is an important, masterful, and rare surviving painting with impeccable provenance and a unique opportunity for those who are drawn to The Allure of Temptation and The Temptation of Allure.
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| Above: Detail |
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| Above: Verso label from Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company |
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| Above: The image as a condom wrapper for Carmen Brand latex condoms |
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| Above: A 1929 Brown & Bigelow Calendar Company tintogravure published print of painting included in sale |
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| Above: Detail of tintogravure print |
"Carmen" has been with the Dayton family most likely since Rolf Armstrong moved to Hawaii in the late 1940s, leaving many of his favorite pieces from his career in the care of the friends who became over time Armstrong's extended family. Among the emotional testimonials to the close bond Armstrong had with Dayton's are the telegram he sent Walter Dayton Jr. when the young man competed in his first boat race, and the pastel portrait Armstrong drew of him. Indeed, Armstrong was so affectionate towards young Duke as he called him, he invited Dayton Jr. to move into his Bayside home so that it could, in a manner of speaking, stay in the family. We are thrilled to offer this spectacular, beautiful epic artwork, and to share this more human side of the iconic Father of American Pin-Up.
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| Above: Telegram from Armstrong to Walter "Duke" Dayton |
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| Above: Armstrong Pastel Portrait of Duke Dayton |
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