Mr. Otis
- Client: Portland Museum of Modern Art
- Size: US Letter (8.5" x 11")
- Printing Technique: Offset
- Year: 2013
-
About:
From the introduction:
“There is little known about the artist whose images fill this catalog. We know he painted between the years 1945 – 1964, had a mustache, and admired the work of Joan Miro. Everything we do know comes directly from his greatest promoter and friend, the writer Stewart Holbrook. In fact, it seems you can’t discuss one without mentioning the other. It was Holbrook who coined the phrase Primitive-Moderne to describe the art of Mr. Otis, adding the e to emphasize the work’s sophistication. He also wrote the introduction for the only published book of the artist’s work, released in 1958 and simply titled “Mr. Otis.” It seems that without the friendship and support of Holbrook, Otis might have gone unnoticed,
slipped through the cracks, due to his “shabby gentility, a man who wore neither a beret nor a beard.”
Mr. Otis
- Client: Portland Museum of Modern Art
- Size: US Letter (8.5" x 11")
- Printing Technique: Offset
- Year: 2013
- About:
From the introduction:
“There is little known about the artist whose images fill this catalog. We know he painted between the years 1945 – 1964, had a mustache, and admired the work of Joan Miro. Everything we do know comes directly from his greatest promoter and friend, the writer Stewart Holbrook. In fact, it seems you can’t discuss one without mentioning the other. It was Holbrook who coined the phrase Primitive-Moderne to describe the art of Mr. Otis, adding the e to emphasize the work’s sophistication. He also wrote the introduction for the only published book of the artist’s work, released in 1958 and simply titled “Mr. Otis.” It seems that without the friendship and support of Holbrook, Otis might have gone unnoticed,
slipped through the cracks, due to his “shabby gentility, a man who wore neither a beret nor a beard.”