Deborah Brown Commission

The winner of this lot will have the unique opportunity to have a custom painting of their house (or location of their choosing) commissioned by artist Deborah Brown.

Though Deborah Brown lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, her recent paintings draw on memories of Pasadena and the Huntington Gardens and Museum in San Marino, appropriating the lush Southern California landscape and architecture as a stage set for the action in the paintings. An unidentified protagonist and her canine companion survey the scene, represented as shadows. Are they neighbors or lurkers, friends or stalkers? The anonymity of the figure is unsettling. Gliding across the surface of the canvas, the figures recall the flâneur, a literary type from 19th century France, traditionally depicted as a male figure of urban leisure and modernity who wanders without purpose, a detached observer of contemporary life. The paintings pose the question of what such a figure, reinterpreted as a flâneuse, means today.

Through the formal construction of the paintings, the artist conveys her fascination with a particular place while channeling our collective wonder at the visual pleasures of the world. The paintings are structured around intense blocks of color, which conjure corresponding feelings in the viewer. Patches of light and calligraphic brushwork crisscross the surface of the canvases, revealing details that provide clues about the subject. Repetition of the elements in the paintings—slightly different in each work—creates a specific mood, one that invites the viewer to construct a narrative about the scene depicted.

Brown received a BA summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Yale University and an MFA from Indiana University. Recent exhibitions include: Bonhams Hong Kong, China (2023); Althuis Hofland, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2023); adhesive contemporary, Mexico City, Mexico (2023); Asia Art Center, Bejing, China (2023); among others. Brown has been a tenured professor at Carleton College and a visiting artist and lecturer at numerous institutions. Her work is included in museum and private collections around the world, such as the ICA, Miami, and the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, by donation from the Alex Katz Foundation.

Artwork subject and dimensions to be mutually agreed upon by winning bidder and artist. Shipping costs, storage fees, and all applicable taxes are the responsibility of the successful bidder. amfAR will accept cryptocurrency for the hammer price of all auction lots; please see terms and conditions at the back of this catalogue.

Shipping costs, storage fees, and all applicable taxes are the responsibility of the successful bidder. amfAR will accept cryptocurrency for the hammer price of all auction lots.