Dogman

Tony loved dogs. He was seldom without them. The drawing 'A time of five' is of his great Dane late sixties, Los Angeles I think. The photo is Tony in Hoboken with Tootsie and her tree puppies: Vita, Vivaldi and Vee...

Goodbying was never said

Tony often wrote on his drawings and paintings. So he did on this airbrush and watercolor. The texts is clear enough for you all to read. There is obvious sadness. I do not know what loss Tony was mourning in this writing. Do you?

Painting the dance

This too is older work: 1974. Tony returned often to the theme of dance since it gave him a freedom in movement and costume. Here it is rather abstract or iconic. Interestingly there is the paintbrush on the right hand side... This is a self-referential detail so we know who looked and painted: Tony Mafia.

Horse

Although politically outspoken and a card carrying democrat, Tony couldn't be squared away in one or another political or stylistic direction. He was neither left nor right, he was catholic, needed a god but didn't think there was one, and stylistically he couldn't care less about directions in contemporary style. If he cared just a bit about something, then it was to bend the rules. I think in many instances he stayed close to the iconography as one finds in the Indian petroglyphs and on the ledgers of Plains Indians. He would always try to capture the soul, rather than the faithful 'realistic' image. Just as he did in this horse.

Abstractions

Tony often combined the figurative with the abstract, like here in the drawing Two guys. The front is, yes, a shirt but no it is just an abstraction for you the viewer to fill in. The second drawing is one of the few total abstractions you'll find among his work.

Recurent themes

Having lived in Amsterdam and Antwerp where there is a large Hasidim population, Tony was captured by their traditional way of dressing. In Antwerp they are very visible and have a large influence in the diamond trade and yes, Tony loved his diamonds. Here you see two drawings from the early 70's: one in stylized lines and the other in delicate colors, probably from the same period as the drawings in the last post... Just showing how different he would use several techniques.

In the window they are

A series of paintings owned by DL will be shown here, put in the window so to speak. I thank him for this opportunity. This is a 1989 drawing, with the Arizona landscape in the background, an angry dog and indeed people looking in. This might be a Las Vegas painting when he still was in the La Brea Gallery or briefly after that. I seem to remember DL gave Tony a Shell gas card. So Tony was always mobile and could get milk and stuff at the gas stations...