'Decoy Duck and Self-Portrait', Norman Blamey

Artwork details

Artist

Norman Blamey (1914‑2000)

Title

Decoy Duck and Self-Portrait

Date 1984-5

MediumOil paint on canvas

Dimensionssupport: 1220 x 1220 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1985

Reference

T04116

Not on display

Display caption

This was painted in Blamey's studio in north-west London over a period of about three months. All the objects in the picture are ones which have a valued place in Blamey's home and studio. The large expanse of wood panelling is the back of an eighteenth-century settle, and the decoy duck is thought by Blamey to be a nineteenth-century American object. The artist is seen reflected in a mirror on the back wall, and Blamey often uses this device in his work. He stresses that this is not in order to present himself in the guise of a self-portrait but rather as a reminder that he is the creator of what the viewer sees.

August 2004