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Painted Pine Folk Art Dowry Box
Ref: 3847
A tidy condition peasant marriage box from Eastern Europe. There is a terrific clash of cultures present in the decoration of this piece - the peasants in this Muslim influenced portion of Eastern Europe have no tradition or skills in representational art and their attempt to paint something fittingly "beautiful" on their box to match finer examples they may have seen makes for imagery that is appealingly direct, primitive and abstracted (like a Roger Hilton gouache or a Miro paint doodle). The panels either side are totally different however - for these the artist has cut out two printed images of "fancy" or "glamour" girls from magazines. It's a kind of proto-Pop art but without the irony - with our sophisticated post-Picasso-esque eyes we admire and value the almost African painterly expression on this box, it is arcane, akin to modern art and has a child-like authenticity that modern hands can only strive to imitate - for the peasant artist themselves no doubt the reverse holds true - the newly available and kitsch mass media images are more highly esteemed and will in time like the infection of a Pandora's box dilute and take to new places the native artistic vision.
Eastern Europe early 20th cent.
H: 31cm (12.2in)
W: 98.5cm (38.8in)
D: 42.5cm (16.7in)
SOLD
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