Painted in 2015 by one of Cuba’s premier contemporary artists, Roberto Fabelo’s La Lágrima Verde, or The Green Tear, imbues portraiture with political critique. While traditionally portraits seek to emphasize their sitters’ virtues, Fabelo’s rendering achieves the opposite effect. The present work satirically illustrates the bald head of woman from whose closed eyes falls a single tear. Large, bulbous white pearls adorn her fleshy neck, ironically signifying status and femininity. This attempt to subvert the genre of portraiture is reminiscent of Quentin Matsys’ An Old Woman (The Ugly Duchess), circa 1513, in which a grotesque woman of rank is depicted in a manner emphasizing her vanity and lack of beauty. Fabelo likewise marries the sumptuous and the grotesque through such details as the woman’s pink, pig-like ear. Building upon precedents such as An Old Woman, La Lágrima Verde exemplifies Fabelo’s process of “recycling,” a term he uses to refer to his method of recontextualizing recognizable art historical imagery into his contemporary practice. In a manner similar to Matsys’ satire of a woman of status, Fabelo uses La Lágrima Verde to open a conversation about his nation’s history and political landscape.
Quentin Matsys, An Old Woman (The Ugly Duchess), circa 1513. The National Gallery, London. Image: Bridgeman Images The Cuban born artist often generates work that harkens back to the political history of his country. Pigs, or humans as pigs, are a recurrent theme in Fabelo’s work, acting as metaphors for undeserving political leaders. The pig functions allegorically in a manner parallel to the pig dictator of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. Fabelo’s use of color, furthermore, takes on a double meaning in the context of the work’s political critique. The woman’s discolored skin is not only evidence of unattractiveness, but also takes on an animal-like quality. A sliver of cloth peeks out from the corner of the canvas, suggesting the woman is wearing a garment as blood red as her pursed mouth. Blue veins snake across her pink, purple, and yellow blotched skin. The pigments, almost pastel in nature, swirl to build up the sitter’s pig-hued complexion. By rendering a portrait of a human to look almost like an animal, Fabelo nods to the sentiment expressed in Animal Farm: “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”i
i George Orwell, Animal Farm, New York, 2020, p.139
Provenance
Private Collection, Switzerland
Acquired from the above by the present owner
392
La Lágrima Verde
signed, partially titled and dated "lágrima verde lágrima verde lágrima verde lágrima verde Fabelo 2015" lower edge; signed, titled and dated "Fabelo "LÁGRIMA VERDE" Fabelo Fabelo "LÁGRIMA VERDE" 2015" on the reverse
oil on canvas
91 1/2 x 78 3/4 in. (232.4 x 200 cm)
Painted in 2015.
Estimate
$100,000 - 150,000
Patrizia Koenig
Specialist, Head of Day Sale, Afternoon Session
+1 212 940 1279
pkoenig@phillips.com
20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Afternoon Session
New York Auction 16 November 2022
321
This lot is no longer available.
326
This lot is no longer available.
364
This lot is no longer available.
372
This lot is no longer available.
381
This lot is no longer available.
393
This lot is no longer available.
