Description

Curatorial Narrative Created in 1910, Albert Levering’s “And the prize is death” occupies a precarious position within the trajectory of early 20th-century art. As a satirical political cartoon with its roots in Still Life conventions, it simultaneously subverts and exploits the aesthetic expectations associated with this genre. The artist’s linear brushwork injects an air of detachment into the composition, as if the objects themselves are being viewed through the lens of a detached observer. The dark blues and greens that dominate the palette imbue the work with an atmospheric weight that is at once oppressive and melancholic, punctuated by highlights of yellow and white that serve to underscore the sense of dissonance. This chromatic structure is heightened when “And the prize is death” is enlarged to 64×44, whereupon its Art Deco influences become increasingly apparent. The spatial rhythm established by the arrangement of obje