(Berlin, Germany, 1934 - 1993)
1985
Oil canvas
Collection of the Akron Art Museum
Gift of Lorraine Dean and Gregory Dean
1994.19
This work is one of a series of paintings by Dean depicting parades. “I love the total madness and confusion of a ticker-tape parade in New York City,” said Dean. “This could be any astronaut but I suppose it’s John Glenn.” Glenn’s wife rode beside him in the parade. Her need to put on a public face may be the reason for the white, clown-like mask. The title does not refer to the astronaut’s race but rather to the dark shadows that surround and engulf him.
Recto: LR: "P. Dean", Verso: Title/size/"oil"/"Peter Dean 9/85", in oil