Artwork
Illustration
Illustration is an unspecified painting by the Neo Expressionist artist Rob Scholte. It dates from 1986 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum. The work presents a painted representation of a nineteenth‑century volume titled How Famous Boys Became Great Men.
About this work
Overview
The work presents a painted representation of a nineteenth‑century volume titled How Famous Boys Became Great Men. The book appears to hover against a uniform background, flanked by oversized quotation marks positioned in the lower left and upper right corners of the composition.
Subject & Meaning
By juxtaposing a tangible, historically dated book with stylised, flat quotation marks, the artist creates a dialogue between the concrete object and its textual framing. The contrast invites viewers to question the boundaries between the literal content of the book and the surrounding visual commentary.
Technique & Style
The painting employs a three‑dimensional illusion for the book, rendered with shading and perspective, while the quotation marks are executed in a two‑dimensional, graphic manner. This deliberate disparity between depth and flatness generates a playful visual tension that underscores the work’s conceptual concerns.
History & Provenance
The depicted volume originates from the 1800s, a period when illustrated manuals on moral development were common. The painting itself is a contemporary reinterpretation, though specific details about its creation date, artist, or collection history are not provided in the source material.
Context
The piece aligns with a broader trend in modern art that interrogates representation and the relationship between image and text. Similar explorations of spatial ambiguity can be found in works held by institutions such as the Rijksmuseum, which frequently exhibit art that challenges conventional perspectives.
Artist & collection
Artist
Rob Scholte (born 1 June 1958) is a Dutch contemporary artist. From 1977 to 1982 he studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam. His work consists of reproductions of images from the media and from art…
