Larry Rivers, Rainbow Rembrandt III, 1977

(New York, 1923-2002)

A modern derivation from Rembrandt van Rijn, The Polish Rider, circa 1655, in the Frick Collection, color annotations at top, signed lower right "Larry Rivers '77", signed and titled verso, acrylic, graphite on paper, 30 x 34-1/2 in.; fine gold leaf frame and liner with silk mat, 39-1/4 x 43-1/4 x 1-3/8 in.

Provenance: Irving Galleries, Palm Beach (label verso); Private Collection

Note: This modern interpretation of Rembrandt's composition, is one of at least a few drawings and eventual paintings. Some were exhibited by the Robert Miller Gallery in New York in an October 1977 exhibition titled Rainbow Rembrandt.

Rivers was one of the first artists to really merge non-objective, non-narrative art with narrative and objective abstraction.
A talented musician, Rivers took up painting in 1945 and studied at the Hans Hofmann School from 1947–48.