Lot 213: Penis

Ellen Altfest (b. 1970) Penis signed and dated ‘Ellen Altfest 2006’ (on the reverse) oil on canvas 11 1/8 x 11 7/8 in. (28.4 x 30.3 cm.) Painted in 2006.

28.4 x 30.3 cm.

London, Royal Academy of Arts, USA Today: New Ameriocan Art from the Saatchi Gallery, October-November 2006, pp. 20-21.

Bellwether Gallery, New York Acquired from the above by the present owner

Focusing on the male member, Ellen Altfest's Penis is painting up close and personal. Drawing from the hyper-realism of Chuck Close's portraits, Altfest approaches her intimate subject with detailed obsession. Every wrinkle, vein, and hair is represented with painstaking accuracy, transforming 'a bit of the other' into a terrain of investigative wonder. Through the complexity of her process, Altfest denatures the abject into a field of inspiring contemplation. Each gesture and brushstroke encapsulates a metaphysical consumption, where desire and fixation are conveyed through the sensual study of painting itself.