(Norwalk, CT, 1955- )
Lives and works in New York
Joe Coleman is best known for
his portraits of brilliant, troubled, complex and often violent figures.
The subject of this portrait, the Duke Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of
Verona, composed some of the most hauntingly beautiful choral works
of the sixteenth century, but is also famous for having murdered
his wife and her lover. The guilt and torment that followed the murders
(for which he was never prosecuted) were thought to have contributed
to the genius of his compositions. The complexity of Coleman's subjects
is expressed in the nearly impossible detailing in his exquisite
portraits, literally encased in text and pictorial references. |
