James Weeks

Man with Blue Tie

1962

Man with Blue Tie

Both Head-Portrait with Red and Blue Background and Man with Blue Tie are classic examples of James Weeks’s deftness of line, shape, and color. These two works illustrate his signature flattened style -a vast departure from figurative painting of the time- and hints of influence from modernist painters like Henri Matisse and Maynard Dixon, although with a somewhat darker tone. Both figures stare with expressionless faces and hollow eyes. Weeks provides us with little visual information to distinguish the identities of these men. Are politicians, members of the jazz club scene that Weeks often depicted, or simply acquaintances that agreed to sit for him? Head-Portrait with Red and Blue Background and Man with Blue Tie are interesting examples of the Bay Area figurative painting movement in their contrast to the sunny landscapes of Elmer Bischoff and the abstract or non-objective works of Richard Diebenkorn.

James Weeks is a painter, educator, and renowned member of the Bay Area Figuration Movement of Northern California. Rather than the non-representational styles of his contemporaries such as Richard Diebenkorn, Weeks’s large-scale paintings serve as figurative social commentaries. The artist was known to be drawn to the darker side of life, so he painted American culture in ways that reveal what hides in the shadows. He also loved to create characters that deliver a strong message to the viewers, often speaking to the many issues American society faces. Some of his famous character portrayals are of boxing arenas, jazz clubs, as well as political and social personas.

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James Weeks Man with Blue Tie

James Weeks

Man with Blue Tie