The Artist's Palette, 1882

Inscriptions

Signed and dated, lower left: Messers McDermott and McGough, 1882

Label

While the decorative nature of this painting feels very domestic, a closer look reveals an amalgamation of aesthetics. In the bottom right, both English and Japanese ceramics sit behind a neoclassical urn. The urn fits in well with the Pompeiian gay sex scene in the upper left, where a pair of muscular men with laurel wreaths are painted on the “artist’s palette.” Yet, the work is infused with a Victorian decorative motif throughout. What are the artists trying to do with this unique fusion of cultures?

McDermott and McGough, two artists living in the East Village during the height of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, appropriate these distinct historical aesthetics and infuse into them their own personal experiences as gay men. The sex scene is from a gay porn magazine, while the backdrop is from an 1880 edition of The Art Amateur, a monthly New York magazine for the art hobbyist. This source material demonstrates how the artists draw on kitsch and low art to weave their gay politics into history.

From the 2024 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 119, Embracing Vulnerability: Gay Intimacy in the Context of AIDS, curated by Colin Donnelly '24, Class of 1954 Intern

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 119, Embracing Vulnerability: Gay Intimacy in the Context of AIDS, Colin Donnelly '24, Class of 1954 Intern, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 13 - September 1, 2024.

David McDermott / Peter McGough, Mario Dianco Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, November 20-December 23, 1987.

Publication History

Collecting and Sharing: Trevor Fairbrother, John T. Kirk, and the Hood Museum of Art, with contributions by Katherine Hart, Michael R. Taylor, John O'Reilly and James Tellin, Trevor Fairbrother and John T. Kirk, Hanover, New Hampshire: Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, 2015, p. 59.

Provenance

Massimo Audiello Gallery, New York, New York; sold to John T. Kirk, Brookline, Massachusetts, November 16, 1987; collection of John T. Kirk and Trevor Fairbrother, Hanover, New Hampshire; given to present collection, 2012.

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Subjects