'Burial of Count Orgaz', John Latham

Artwork details

Artist

John Latham (1921‑ 2006)

Title

Burial of Count Orgaz

Date 1958

MediumCanvas, plaster, spoon, sponge, books, bottle, gas light fitting, gas pipes and other materials

Dimensionsobject: 1219 x 914 x 216 mm

Collection

Tate

Acquisition Purchased 1976

Reference

T02069

Not on display

Display caption

This work is based on El Greco's 1586 painting of the same title. Latham was impressed by the way El Greco had depicted two states of being in the same picture. El Greco shows the Count of Orgaz being entombed and, above that scene, being received into Heaven. In paraphrasing El Greco's work, Latham was announcing his own preoccupation with the idea of a unified universe. From 1958 Latham began to incorporate books as sculptural elements in his work. Here, books are used in combination with other objects including a sponge, whisky bottle, fireguard 'and a flintstone for God'. An old bagatelle board suggests the curved shape of the El Greco.

September 2004