Collections: Contemporary Art: Green Hands and Faces

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This image is presented as a "thumbnail" because it is protected by copyright. The Brooklyn Museum respects the rights of artists who retain the copyright to their work.

Green Hands and Faces

Green Hands and Faces is from a powerful group of paintings by Ross Bleckner that take on a subject of importance to the artist since the 1980s—the loss of friends and loved ones to AIDS. Each luminous spot on the canvas's surface stands metaphorically as a glowing flame, a flickering symbol of a deceased person whose life remains as a memory. As if created by a source emanating from the depth of darkness, the "hands" and "faces" are the result of fine modulation of reflective oil paint and varnish.

• Artist: Ross Bleckner, American, born 1949
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Place Made: USA
• Dates: 1994
• Dimensions: 84 x 72in. (213.4 x 182.9cm)
• Collections: Contemporary Art
• Museum Location: This item is on view in American Identities: A New Look, Modern Life, 5th Floor
• Accession Number: 1995.30
• Credit Line: Purchased with funds given by Ninah and Michael Lynne and the Frank L. Babbott Fund
• Image: Overall, 1995.30_transpc003.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
Ross Bleckner (American, born 1949). Green Hands and Faces, 1994. Oil on canvas, 84 x 72in. (213.4 x 182.9cm). Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by Ninah and Michael Lynne and the Frank L. Babbott Fund, 1995.30 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1995.30_transpc003.jpg)