Above: "Cambodian Dancer," a lithograph by Alexander King (1900-1965), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1937. It's unclear whether this is the same Alexander King who was described by TIME magazine as "an ex-illustrator, ex-cartoonist, ex-adman, ex-editor, ex-playwright, ex-dope addict... ex-painter," or a "Little known printmaker who worked on the NYC-WPA" (Paramour Fine Arts). A document on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia states "Alexander King lived a bizarre life made up of multiple marriages, morphine addiction, art theft and forgery. Apparently, he experienced some lucid moments in the late 1930s that allowed him to participate in the Federal Art Project printmaking program in New York City." A biography on askART states that Alexander King (1900-1965) was "Described as a... morphine addict, failing playwright and painter... a man of iconoclastic observations and caustic humor... he became an art thief, stealing fifty prints from the Metropolitan Museum. He was jailed twice, and married four times. He wrote a book, 'Rich Man, Poor Man, Freud and Fruit,' and died one day after appearing on 'The Today Show' to publicize it." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
No comments:
Post a Comment