Name/Title
Laid BackEntry/Object ID
2018.2Description
Often depicting people and places of his youth, Dean Mitchell's Laid Back features Eddie Lee, a man who worked at the now demolished Willie Ward's Body Shop in Quincy, Florida, where the artist grew up. This large oil on board from 2001 depicts Mr. Lee leaned back in a chair, probably on a break. We see the large figure through a doorway, his frame, clad in an all blue uniform, creates a striking diagonal across the composition. Glimmers of light hint at the work going on inside the shop, but the focus is on Mr. Lee's face and hands. Dramatic perspective puts the viewer peering in the doorway, from a low perspective - perhaps Mitchell as a young man? This painting was featured in the "Black Romantic" exhibit at The Studio Museum in Harlem, in 2002, an exhibition in which New York Times art critic Michael Kimmelman dubbed Mitchell a "virtual modern-day Vermeer." The painting has been in a private collection since the 2002 exhibition and was in the Woolaroc Museum's "The Best of the Best" exhibition in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, in 2017.Acquisition
Accession
2018.2Source or Donor
Mr. and Mrs. Jack A. Morris, Jr.Acquisition Method
GiftCredit Line
Mr. and Mrs. Jack A. Morris, Jr.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Mitchell, DeanRole
ArtistDate made
2001Dimensions
Height
47-1/2 inWidth
39-1/2 inInterpretative Labels
Label
Dean Mitchell (b.1957)
Raised in Quincy, Florida, Dean Mitchell is recognized as one of the finest painters in the United States. His themes are universal concerning life, death, family connections, psychological, and spiritual revelations. Mitchell received a Bachelor of Fine Arts and an Honorary Masters Degree from the Columbus College of Fine Art and Design. Mitchell has received over 600 national and international awards for his work.Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
November 28, 2017