Progress of Beauty 2
Mark Kostabi
Description
Mark Kostabi
United States, born 1960
Progress of Beauty 2
1988
Ink and marker on paper
2008/2.238
Subject Matter:
Based on the painting by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer, Young Woman with a Water Pitcher (1662) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. In this work, Vermeer’s painting has been rendered in linear form: stained glass window, wall, shadow thrown by window, the woman’s head and shoulder covering and bodice, tablecloth, basin and pitcher, the map on the wall behind her; the jewelry box has been changed to a cash register.
Kostabi describes himself as a “corporate artist” who makes “business art”—work in which market mechanisms, commodification and commercialization are not separated from the traditional realms of aesthetics and creativity. The woman with pitcher is rendered as the “everyman” figure in his paintings—smooth, featureless, tonally modeled form.
Physical Description:
Line drawing in felt tip marker on ivory ~ 10x13” paper with shading. Woman’s arm and dress filled in completely with black, as well as a pane of the stained glass window that she holds. The wall, pitcher, parts of the woman’s head and shoulder covering and bodice, and cash register have been modeled in stylized “half tone” of zigzag separating white and black; shadows take the form of dense curlicues. The tablecloth bears splotches of black ink that were possibly made by blowing air on wet ink through a straw. The map has been filled in with ink drips and splatters.
Usage Rights:
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