Above: Full view of oil on board

A modern, inventive, and vertically compressed nude by the New York artist Gilbert Stone dated 1978 and signed by the artist.

Above: Framed in simple period 1970’s gold metal frame

The model was the artist’s wife Carol, who, like the artist, sadly died young. Before his career was cut short by his death in 1984 Stone’s work was exhibited around the world and included in public and private collections like the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Collection at the Smithsonian Institution, and the Brooklyn Museum. In 1965, Gilbert was awarded the distinguished Prix de Roma for painting, which was renewed in 1966, affording him a two-year residency in Rome, with a studio at the American Academy in Rome. When the fellowship was fulfilled, he and his family returned to Brooklyn. His illustrations appeared in publications such as Esquire, The London Times, Sports Illustrated, New York Magazine, and Playboy, National Geographic, Art Voices, also as album covers and books, for which he received three Gold Medals from the Society of Illustrators, three Art Directors Awards and the Chicago Art Directors Club. “He made an illustration career out of presenting a unique, side-wise compressed vision of the world. The optical illusion conferred itself to the picture content as well, adding an element of mystery and forcing the viewer to interpret its meaning. The effect was intriguing and very successful in attracting the attention of the reader.” (Walt and Roger Reed, The Illustrator in America 1880-1980.)