Shorts Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

A late 20th century watercolour and gouache on paper by British artist Derek Carruthers. Signed to the bottom right. Carruthers at one period in his painting became quite interested in the classical period of Greek and Roman architecture. He liked to juxtapose modern and classical images to show that although thousands of years may pass we remain the same with the same habits, hopes and desires. Here the artist is sending a postcard back in time. Classical nudes lay on rocks to the bottom of the image whilst people in the postcard are also similarly lying in the sun. The contrast that hits the viewer is the beauty of the sculptures compared to the figures on the beach. Have we lost something over the thousands of years for all our advancement and technology? The postcard is annotated 'Jack Kerouac 35, William Burroughs 43, Tangier beach March-April... Ginsberg.' In fact the postcard depicted in this painting is a painted version of a photograph taken on Tanger beach in 1957. Jack Kerouac is centre with Peter Orlovsky to his left and Burroughs lying on the sand watching to the right. At that time Jack Kerouac was helping Burroughs type up his novel 'Naked Lunch'. The photo was taken by Allen Ginsberg. These three people were authors and founder members of the Beat...

Medium: Watercolor and Ink on Paper Dimensions: 28.00" x 19.50" Signature: Signed Lower Right