Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 13

Ron Adams
"Neptune Washington", Fisherman Polling His River Boat in the Rain by Ron Adams

1996

About the Item

"Neptune Washington" is a large contemporary lithograph by Ron Adams (1934- ), created in 1996. It depicts a muscular African-American fisherman polling his fishing boat in a river in the rain. Adams distinctive rendering of Neptune conveys his great strength, as well as the grace, fluidity and balance of his body. He is barefoot and shirtless, dressed in striped overalls with his right shoulder strap undone. A bucket of fish sits next to his left foot, while fishing line, an open tin can and a frog are seen on a wet bench in front of Neptune. A long-necked white bird (crane) sits on a log floating by in the river near the opposite shore. Ominous storm clouds are present in the background over trees, brush and rocks along the opposite river bank. The lithograph is printed on handmade deckle-edged paper and presented with a museum style floating mount in a black wood frame with a thick cream mat and glazed with UV protected plexiglass. It is signed in pencil in the right lower corner along with the date, '96. The title "Neptune Washington" is inscribed in pencil in the lower margin in the center and initials HGI are in the lower left. The initials HGI may stand for Hand Graphics Institute, which Adams founded in New Mexico. The initials rather than the usual edition number (which consisted of 70), possibly signify an artist proof or possibly a Hors-Commerce (before trade) printing. The print is in excellent condition. The frame measures 38" x 30.25" x 1.25". Ron Adams is a prominent African-American master printmaker. His detailed depictions of African-American musicians, craftsmen, folk heroes and everyday people have made him one of the top figurative artists and printmakers in the country. He has worked with and taught many other well-known artists, including Frank Stella, Charles White, John Biggers, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Jones. Adams’ work is held by many museums, including: The National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC, The Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, The Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, The Bronx Museum, Bronx, New York, and The Museum of Art, University of Arizona, Tucson.
  • Creator:
    Ron Adams (1934)
  • Creation Year:
    1996
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 38 in (96.52 cm)Width: 30.25 in (76.84 cm)Depth: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Alamo, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: # 14841stDibs: LU117326317932
More From This SellerView All
  • Hand Colored 19th c. Vanity Fair Caricature of an Opera Singer, "Polish Tenor"
    By Sir Leslie Ward
    Located in Alamo, CA
    A hand colored Vanity Fair caricature of a 19th century opera singer, M Jean de Reszke, entitled 'Polish Tenor'. The print was created by the most famou...
    Category

    1890s Victorian Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Original 19th C. Vanity Fair Caricature of "An Old Fashioned Judge", Henry Lopes
    By Sir Leslie Ward
    Located in Alamo, CA
    A framed hand-colored Vanity Fair caricature of a prominent 19th century English judge, Henry Charles Lopes, 1st Baron Ludlow (1828-1899) entitled "An O...
    Category

    1890s Victorian Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • "A Great Man on The Turf": A 19th Century James Gillray Hand-colored Etching
    By James Gillray
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This framed hand-colored etching and aquatint entitled "A Great Man on The Turf or Sir Solomon in all his Glory" by James Gillray was published in London by Hanna Humphrey, 27 St. James Street on July 7th 1803. The print is signed in the plate in the lower right. It depicts a man, possibly a caricature of the racehorse breeder Sir Solomon. However, there has been some controversy about the identity of the central figure on the mound. Traditionally the man has been thought to represent John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford...
    Category

    Early 1800s Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • "Playing in Parts": A 19th Century James Gillray Hand-colored Musical Caricature
    By James Gillray
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This hand-colored etching and aquatint caricature entitled "Playing in Parts" by James Gillray was published in London by Hanna Humphrey, 27 St. James Street on May 15th 1801. The print is signed in the plate in the lower right. This is a rare musical caricature. It depicts five amateur musicians, a woman and four men, performing their music in a drawing room. A young overweight woman dressed in white is seated in the center, playing a piano...
    Category

    Early 19th Century Portrait Prints

    Materials

    Etching

  • Crucifixion: 18th Century Etching by Conrad Metz after Daniele da Volterra
    Located in Alamo, CA
    "Crucifixion" is an etching and aquatint, printed in brown ink by Conrad M. Metz after a painting by Daniele da Volterra. It was published in London in 1789 in 'Imitations Of Ancient...
    Category

    Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Etching, Aquatint

  • Chez Panisse Birthday Celebration: Signed Limited Ed. Goines Graphic Art Poster
    By David Lance Goines
    Located in Alamo, CA
    This original framed graphic art lithographic poster entitled "Chez Panisse Cafe & Restaurant Seventeenth Birthday" was created by David Lance Goines in 1...
    Category

    Late 20th Century Interior Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

You May Also Like
  • Backyard Garden, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, China Art, Print
    By Yue Minjun
    Located in Zug, CH
    Yue Minjun, Backyard Garden Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in Roman numerals In mint condition, as acquired from the publisher PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the pictures. The pictures shown are only for illustrative reasons, the piece is offered unframed. The print is mounted on double sheet of paper with a poem on one spread and print on the other. Backyard Garden belongs to the set of twenty lithographs from the “Snatched Ecstasy of Yue Minjun”, which comes as a limited edition of 130 rare books. The work of Yue Minjun is instantly recognizable with its uniform laughing faces, the artist's faces. Minjun creates various realities against which the laughing figures are rendered, thus creating ambiguous images, often with the sinister atmosphere, which comes as his personal cynical reaction to various social and political dimensions of contemporary Chinese realities. Immediately humorous and sympathetic, Yue Minjun’s paintings offer a light-hearted approach to philosophical enquiry and contemplation of existence. Yue’s self-portraits have been describe by theorist Li Xianting as “a self-ironic response to the spiritual vacuum and folly of modern-day China”, thus the acidic tones and commercialized vacuity of his works are used to underscore the insincerity of his figures’ mirth. “Art should be an expression of one's particular feelings and should be direct and deep. So I drew one person, and then added another and another until there were crowds of them. Then I felt my emotions to be fully expressed.„ —Yue Minjun YUE MINJUN Yue Min-Jun (born 1962, Daqing, China) is one of the leading Chinese artists. He is best known for oil paintings depicting formations of his laughing self-portraits in various settings. His iconography is easily recognisable, it challenges social and cultural conventions by depicting objects and political issues in a radical, abstract, ironic and cynical manner. Yue Min-Jun initially started painting as a hobby, subsequently he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hebei Normal University, China in 1985. In the 90s he joined an artist community in Yuan Ming...
    Category

    Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Paean on Grassland, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, China, Print
    By Yue Minjun
    Located in Zug, CH
    Yue Minjun, Paean on Grassland Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered...
    Category

    Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Ingres & I, Yue Minjun- Contemporary Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese
    By Yue Minjun
    Located in Zug, CH
    Yue Minjun, Ingres and I Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 × 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in Ro...
    Category

    Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Backyard Garden, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, China Art, Print
    By Yue Minjun
    Located in Zug, CH
    Yue Minjun, Backyard Garden Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in...
    Category

    Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Remarkable People, Yue Minjun- Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese
    By Yue Minjun
    Located in Zug, CH
    Yue Minjun, Remarkable People Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 × 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered ...
    Category

    Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

  • Fighting, Yue Minjun - Art, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Art, Print
    By Yue Minjun
    Located in Zug, CH
    Yue Minjun, Fighting Contemporary, 21st Century, Lithograph, Limited Edition, Chinese Lithograph Edition of 130 80 x 120 cm (47 1/5 × 31 1/2 in) Stamped Signature, numbered in Roman numerals In mint condition, as acquired from the publisher PLEASE NOTE: Edition numbers could vary from the one shown in the pictures. The pictures shown are only for illustrative reasons, the piece is offered unframed. The print is mounted on double sheet of paper with a poem on one spread and print on the other. In fantastical paintings populated with heightened, hysterical self-portraits, Yue Minjun satirizes contemporary society and art historical tropes. Yue paints himself in fluorescent hues with a gaping grin. He occasionally multiplies his likeness, making his compositions even more menacing; his style has made him a pioneer of China’s Cynical Realism movement. Yue’s influences include Chinese socialist realism, Surrealism, and European classical paintings. He studied oil painting at Hebei Normal University in Shijiazhuang and has exhibited in Hong Kong, Berlin, Shenzhen, Shanghai, London, Basel, and New York. Yue has been the subject of numerous institutional shows at venues such as the Macao Museum, the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, the National Art Museum of China, the Kunstmuseum Bonn, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Bern. “[...] I choose to paint laughter, to communicate a sense of pleasure and happiness, but actually, it hides a double perspective of drama and suffering.„ —Yue Minjun YUE MINJUN Yue Min-Jun (born 1962, Daqing, China) is one of the leading Chinese artists. He is best known for oil paintings depicting formations of his laughing self-portraits in various settings. His iconography is easily recognisable, it challenges social and cultural conventions by depicting objects and political issues in a radical, abstract, ironic and cynical manner. Yue Min-Jun initially started painting as a hobby, subsequently he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Hebei Normal University, China in 1985. In the 90s he joined an artist community in Yuan Ming Yuan, a village near Beijing where he began to form his style and iconography. The paintings, sculptures, and installations of Yue Minjun feature uniform laughing pink faces, which appear to be self-portraits. Through various symbols, metaphors, signs, or through depictions of daily life the artist constructs various realities against which the laughing figures are rendered. "In my work, laughter is a representation of a state of helplessness, lack of strength and participation, with the absence of our rights that society has imposed on us." —Yue Minjun Yue became famous after his participation in the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999, which granted him access to international art. One of the best-known paintings by Yue Minjun and an icon for modern Chinese art and the Cynical Realism movement is Execution. It was painted in 1995 and is generally regarded as a reaction to the Tiananmen Square...
    Category

    Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Prints

    Materials

    Lithograph

Recently Viewed

View All