Modern and Contemporary Art

Provenance:

Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Property from a Corporate Collection.

Lot essay:

Thomas Chimes' work often blended elements of Surrealism and Abstraction, and deeply explored Pataphysical philosophy, which engages the irrational and absurd. Chimes was born in Philadelphia in 1921 and studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, later earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania in 1948. He created a wide range of artwork, including paintings, drawings, etchings and sculptures, often featuring dreamlike landscapes, geometric shapes, and enigmatic symbols, challenging viewers to explore the boundaries of reality.

Chimes held a particular fascination with the character of Dr. Faustroll, created by the French writer Alfred Jarry, who became a recurring subject in his work. Faustroll represented to Chimes an unconventional thinker, someone navigating a world free from the constraints of traditional logic. An enigmatic figure, Faustroll is central to the present painting, Faustroll Free, although the image is taken directly from a photograph of Alfred Jarry riding a bicycle, conflating the fictional character and his author. The painting, like most of Chimes’ major works, beckons the viewers to question reality, embrace the irrational, and explore the boundaries of the human imagination.