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Joyce Kozloff
Topkapi Pullman (based on Mural for Lobby, Suburban Train Station, Philadelphia)

1985

About the Item

Joyce Kozloff Topkapi Pullman, 1985 Watercolor and acrylic on paper (bears original gallery labels: Barbara Gladstone Gallery, Gallery Camino Real, Boston University Art Gallery) Signed, and inscribed: "Mural for Lobby, Suburban Train Station, Philadelphia, to be executed in glass mosaic, 2"=1', Joyce Kozloff 1985." Frame included: floated and framed in hand made wood museum frame with UV plexiglass Measurements: Frame: 27 x 33 x 1 inch Artwork: 23.5 x 30 inches This showstopping, unique watercolor and acrylic work on paper is based upon of one of two mosaic panels for the Suburban Station, an art deco office building and underground commuter rail station in Penn Center, Philadelphia. It features elaborate floral and geometric motifs. According to published materials accompanying the Boston University Art Gallery exhibition, "Opposite the Penn mosaic stands “Topkapi Pullman,” paying tribute to Philadelphia’s role as a transportation and mercantile center. From inside Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, tiled with elaborate floral and geometric motifs, a doorway opens up onto a massive, foreshortened locomotive speeding through a streamlined Precisionist space. The Art Deco train is modeled on Fix Masseau’s iconic 1929 Orient Express poster. It evokes the romanticism of train travel, and plays on its symbolism in 1930s movies, where it was a metaphor for sex, power and glamour. Above is the logo of the Pennsylvania railroad, and below its motto, “The Standard Railroad of the World.” (Regional commuters in the 1930s might have fantasized that they were traveling on the luxurious Orient Express to Istanbul.) Bridging decoration and illusion, the style and imagery acknowledge both fine and applied arts traditions, Kozloff has taken on many public commissions throughout her career. The present work is signed, dated and inscribed on lower right recto in pencil: "Mural for Lobby, Suburban Train Station, Philadelphia, to be executed in glass mosaic, 2"=1', Joyce Kozloff 1985." Three gallery labels on verso: Barbara Gladstone Gallery Gallery Camino Real Boston University Art Gallery Below is an excerpt from a transcript of Kozloff discussing the design and conceptual elements of the public mosaic work that the present work is a study of: Joyce Kozloff: Suburban Station, Philadelphia “Galla Placidia in Philadelphia” and “Topkapi Pullman,” 1 Penn Center at Suburban Station, Philadelphia, PA, Richard I. Rubin & Co., Developer; Francis, Cauffman, Wilkinson and Pepper, Philadelphia, Architects; fabricated by Travisanutto Mosaics, Spilimbergo, IT; photos Eugene Mopsik Two mosaic panels integrate local history with early moments in the history of Western art. In “Galla Placidia in Philadelphia,” William Penn stands on a schematic hillside, holding the scrolled charter to the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He functions as an historical referent and schematic visual symbol, for his silhouette is the primary civic icon of the city. Penn is set into an ornate architectural ensemble based on the mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna. Although the wall surface is only slightly convex, the impression is of a lunette set deeply into one of the arms of a chapel’s Greek cross floor plan. Flat, ornamented archivolts outline this illusionistic space and separate it from a two-dimensional starry night abstracted from the patterned constellations on the ceiling in Ravenna. Penn replaces the Christian saints at Galla Placidia, but the forms of their attributes remain, so he is shielded by the protective canopy of Early Byzantine art, but the flames of maryrdom which encircle his feet are now de-contextualized, retained for their decorative effect. Opposite the Penn mosaic stands “Topkapi Pullman,” paying tribute to Philadelphia’s role as a transportation and mercantile center. From inside Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace, tiled with elaborate floral and geometric motifs, a doorway opens up onto a massive, foreshortened locomotive speeding through a streamlined Precisionist space. The Art Deco train is modeled on Fix Masseau’s iconic 1929 Orient Express poster. It evokes the romanticism of train travel, and plays on its symbolism in 1930s movies, where it was a metaphor for sex, power and glamour. Above is the logo of the Pennsylvania railroad, and below its motto, “The Standard Railroad of the World.” (Regional commuters in the 1930s might have fantasized that they were traveling on the luxurious Orient Express to Istanbul.) Bridging decoration and illusion, the style and imagery acknowledge both fine and applied arts traditions, signifying the artist’s intention to break down the barriers between them. Text excerpted from Pat Johnston, Joyce Kozloff: Visionary Ornament. Boston, MA: Boston University, 1985. Very good condition with no apparent issues; floated in elegant hand made white wood frame with museum plexiglass
  • Creator:
    Joyce Kozloff (1942, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1985
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 27 in (68.58 cm)Width: 33 in (83.82 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good condition with no apparent issues; floated in elegant hand made white wood frame with museum plexiglass.
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1745213024842
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