GEORGE DEEM (1932–2008)

George Deem, a painter who admired master painters so much that he spent his own career repainting their works, albeit with clever alterations, died on August 11, reports the New York Times_’ Bruce Weber. Deem concentrated on making explicit references to other painters and other paintings, uncannily re-creating the style, the light, the brushstrokes, and the details of masterpieces he loved. But in addition to the overt references, there were always subtle—or not so subtle—changes. Artists who commanded Deem’s attention were Caravaggio, Chardin, Ingres, Homer, Matisse, Picasso, and especially Vermeer, whose works he returned to again and again. He wanted the viewer to experience not only the painting in front of him but also the referenced works that came before. The critic Charles Molesworth called the technique “temporal collage.” At his death, Deem was preparing a show of his work to be presented at the Pavel Zoubok Gallery in Manhattan in January. His work is included in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston; the Ludwig Collection in Aachen, Germany; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among others.