Artist: “Henry Faulkner” (1924- 1981)
Likely dates circa 1958
Oil painted on canvas stretched over Masonite
12” x10” image size, frame 14 1/4” x 16 1/8”
30,000-
In the autumn of 1955 soon after leaving L.A. , after his longest tenure of academic study when at the Otis Art Institute, Faulkner packs up his works of the previous three years and relocates briefly to Lexington, Ky. In 1956 he apparently attends a show at Perls Gallery on Madison Ave. in NYC. where 28 Marc Chagall’s are on exhibition. The following year he exhibits and sells his first painting (Chagall influenced rooster) as a professional artist. That sale at The Collector’s of American Art on 62nd St. in the city. His debut as a professional was soon followed that year at three other galleries with great success. The work shown here with a somewhat similar palette certainly showing Chagall’s influence though Henry tightens up. An example of a Chagall bird among support images.
Henry’s bird is inscribed on the reverse “Proud Cock #39” indicating the work was apparently included in an exhibition. This example was among four descending from a single owner appearing at a NYC auction in 2022. Three of the four with index numbers posted to the back side of the support all dating from Henry’s early period. The fourth likely dating within the early 60’s. The fourth was possibly purchased by the owner at one of Henry’s return trips to the City. He would later return to exhibit in New York among several galleries but now with a grub stake in late 1957 headed to the warmth and color of Southern Florida. There too he was well received among several galleries in different cities. A star was born well before Henry would develop his shtick which would propel him through the sixties and seventies. This work in excellent condition housed in an antique frame possibly of Henry’s choosing.
