The Robe in France

Though Jim Dine resisted the label of Pop artist, ” his work is replete with objects, words, and other motifs that are common to the Pop lexicon. Indeed, he has regularly explored the role that familiar objects play in everyday life, regarding them as a vocabulary of feelings. But unlike most Pop artists, Dine favored painterly techniques, a largely subjective approach that can in part be traced to the avant-garde experiments of the abstract expressionists. In this hand-colored print, Dine presents an exuberant version of his familiar motif of the “standing bathrobe, ” a recurrent theme that along with the heart, hand, skull, and tools, can be interpreted as an emblematic or symbolic self-portrait. The empty robe appears animated, almost defiant, as if it was being worn by some invisible entity. Its bold patchwork of color and shape serves as a witty take on the artist’s creative identity and character.