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IRVING NORMAN (1906-1989)

 
Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind. Irving Norman's masterpiece, "The Human Condition," from 1980, draws upon the artist's lifetime of acquired experiences and knowledge. Surviving as a volunteer fighter during the Spanish Civil War, the artist returned to the United States after the loyalist defeat. Upon his return, fervent studio practice in Half Moon Bay, California, would become his life's devotion.  <br><br>The present work, a nearly 16-foot-wide triptych, is reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch's triptych, "The Garden of Earthly Delights," c. 1510.  The dystopian vision portrayed in 'The Human Condition" is a warning - a lesson from the European dictatorships Norman experienced firsthand during the 1930s.   Disturbing tableaus show the darkness of humanity and the evil that can rise to prominence when humanity is at its worst.  There is hope, however, in the experience of the viewer: Norman thought of his audience as the greatest hope for humankind.
Der Zustand des Menschen1980-1981120 x 182 in.(304,8 x 462,28 cm) Öl auf Leinwand
Provenienz
Töpferkunstmuseum, Sacramento
Ausstellung
1986 Alternatives Museum, New York
2002 Santa Monica College
2006 Crocker Kunstmuseum, Sacramento
2007 Pasadena Museum für Kalifornische Kunst
2007 Utah State Univ. Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art
2007 Amerikanische Universität Katzen Museum, Washington, D.C.
Literaturhinweise
Dunkle Metropole: Irving Norman's Sozialer Surrealismus, Hrsg. Scott A. Shields and Ray Day (Sacramento and Berkeley: The Crocker Art Museum and Heyday Books, 2006), S. 199
Irving Normans Meisterwerk "The Human Condition" aus dem Jahr 1980 stützt sich auf die im Leben des Künstlers gesammelten Erfahrungen und Kenntnisse. Der Künstler überlebte als freiwilliger Kämpfer während des spanischen Bürgerkriegs und kehrte nach der Niederlage der Loyalisten in die Vereinigten Staaten zurück. Nach seiner Rückkehr wurde die inbrünstige Atelierpraxis in Half Moon Bay, Kalifornien, zu seiner Lebensanliegen.

Das vorliegende Werk, ein fast 16 Fuß breites Triptychon, erinnert an Hieronymus Boschs Triptychon "Der Garten der irdischen Freuden", um 1510. Die dystopische Vision, die in "The Human Condition" dargestellt wird, ist eine Warnung - eine Lektion aus den europäischen Diktaturen, die Norman in den 1930er Jahren am eigenen Leib erfahren hat. Beunruhigende Tableaus zeigen die Dunkelheit der Menschheit und das Böse, das in der schlimmsten Phase der Menschheit in den Vordergrund treten kann. Es gibt jedoch Hoffnung in der Erfahrung des Betrachters: Norman betrachtete sein Publikum als die größte Hoffnung für die Menschheit.
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