Provenance: Private Collection, USA

ABOUT THE WORK

In this early phase of his life, Ossorio embraced German Renaissance portraiture in his prints and earlier paintings, primarily from the 15th century master Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). The works by Dürer of his dream-like realism made an impact on the young man that was nixed with his personal Catholic devotion. A highlight is this watercolor on paper done in the late 1940’s, The Crucifix for the Season of Pentecost in which the Christ figure is depicted by Ossorio seems magically suspended, as if weightless. Everything is unreal or half real. Even if general society did not recall the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as narrated from scripture, we would be made aware that the subject of this spiritual being, whose sacrifice is transformed from a sign of torment, to that of a divine revelation. The beauty of this work as shown in this composition is presented in such a manner, that an illiterate can be able to grasp the narrative as shown. As a whole, resurrection or rebirth is the message or “sermon” of these paintings. Ossorio’s art thus becomes literary but on a cosmic and visionary plane. Christ has weightlessness about him. His arms are outstretched and in this he foreshadows his crucifixion and prefigures his own rising from the tomb. The composition is noteworthy for the sacristy and simplicity of the composition, the firmly closed off space, and the extensive use of greens in the tunic and red in the cruciform backdrop. Ossorio’s deep scholarly and spiritual links with Catholicism and early liturgical art became fully consumed into a graphic spirituality that was more attuned with his own contemporary culture. Ossorio’s esoteric works stand outside the development of the arts; he had no precursors, except in terms of technique. His visions reflect a mingling of intense personal forces and fantasy, with medieval pietism and even hints of Renaissance Platonism. Ossorio’s craftsmanship and draftsman ship goes back to his love for medieval art and to the precise craft of wood engraving. While not abandoning the visual clarity and linearity of religious Renaissance artists as with Dürer. The glorious divinity of this work successfully depicted through the serene, symmetry of the figure in a full tunic, which underscores Christ’s purity and priesthood.