By Robert Riggs
Located in Miami, FL
Tempera mixed with gum arabic and alcohol on Renaissance Panel ( composite wood panel )
Robert Riggs was a gay man. Being gay in American during the 1940's time was something not to flaunt in public. Rigg's had to communicate his underlying feelings in more symbolic ways.
Throughout Riggs' oeuvre, one sees continuous references to strong hunked out manly men and vulnerable boys. It is a core element of is iconography and is described in a powerful graphic style.
In “Prospector firing Rifle,” there is a Dick Pic. Riggs is clearly making a sexual statement about the moment of climax. The long, straight rifle explodes and is captured at the moment of its peak climax. Meanwhile, the two bags of gold clearly resemble the other part of the male anatomy. Riggs was a thoughtful and meticulous visual thinker, and nothing in any of Riggs’s compositions was haphazardly placed. In tribute to the artist’s suppressed feelings, I have given this work a second title “Happiness is a Warm Gun...
Category
1940s Academic Mary Fish Art