Double Portrait

Alfonso Ossorio, Double Portrait, 1944, watercolor and black ink on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.70
Copied Alfonso Ossorio, Double Portrait, 1944, watercolor and black ink on paper, sheet and image: 14 x 20 in. (35.5 x 50.8 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.70

Artwork Details

Title
Double Portrait
Artist
Date
1944
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet and image: 14 x 20 in. (35.5 x 50.8 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums
Mediums Description
watercolor and black ink on paper
Classifications
Highlights
Subjects
  • Portrait group
  • Portrait male — Darbey, James
  • Portrait male — Collamore, Bacon
Object Number
1993.70
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1993.70

Artwork Description

This elegant, hallucinatory drawing combines grotesque anatomical fragments, realistic portraiture, and surrealistic fantasy. Ossorio’s state of mind can only be described as tormented, induced by his World War II experiences, a recent divorce, and his uneasy acknowledgement of homosexuality. Double Portrait is based on his memories of Camp Ellis, Illinois, where he suffered a life-threatening accident and documented injured soldiers and prisoners of war as a medical illustrator.

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009