BENNY ANDREWS (1930 - 2006)
Mary.

Oil and painted canvas collage on linen canvas, 1975. 508x457 mm; 20x18 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right recto. Signed, dated, titled, and inscribed "20"Hx18"W" in oil, verso.

Provenance: gift from the artist, Ralph and Helen Dubin, New York; private collection, Pennsylvania. Ralph Dubin (1919 - 1998) was also a New York figurative painter. The Dubins were friends and fellow residents of Andrews family at the newly opened Westbeth Artist Housing in the 1970s.

Mary is a striking portait of photographer Mary Ellen Jones Smith, Benny Andrews's first wife, the mother of their three children. Smith and Andrews were married from 1957 - 1986. The painting is a strong example of Andrew's mid-career work and his innovative portraiture of collaged canvas elements.