In this earlier white chalk on paper work ‘Untitled (Millet Figure)’ from 1979, Troy Brauntuch captures his iconic approach to the intangible and ephemeral with ghost-like imagery referencing Jean-Francos Millet. Even with the aid of a title, the composition maintains a mysterious quality to it, rendering the figure in a hauntingly beautiful way and evoking a sense of the insubstantial. Manipulating the viewer’s perception of what’s perceived and what’s presumed to be there, Brauntuch creates a fragmentary glimpse into how we interpret meaning from deciphering imagery.

Work is in a black wood frame measuring 12.75 x 11.5 inches.

As part of the 1970’s ‘Pictures Generation’ group, artist Troy Brauntuch (b. 1954) takes a postmodern approach to his art, working to deconstruct and decontextualize the viewer’s perception of his compositions by removing inherent meaning from his imagery. Often providing no accompanying text with his pieces, Brauntuch reveals how much cultural knowledge individuals draw upon when visually comprehending works. He received his BFA from the California Institute of the Arts (Valencia, CA) and has received numerous awards over the course of his career including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, and a National Endowment for the Arts Award. Brauntuch has exhibited at numerous venues internationally including the Whitney Museum of Art (New York, NY), Tate Modern (London, UK), Centre National d’Art Contemporain (Grenoble, FR), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY), among others.

Select Public Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY)
Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY)
Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles, CA)
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC)