Leon Polk Smith

The back cover of the number of the NYRB which turned up today is decorated with a picture called 'Prairie Moon' by a chap called Leon Polk Smith, offered by the Lisson Gallery in New York, one supposes offered for sale in a show compèred by one Lynn Zelevansky.

Further investigation turns up reference 1, from where I learn that 'Prairie Moon' is also the name of the show which a picture of this name, but that this picture is called 'Correspondence Black and Blue', created, or perhaps curated in 1960.

While from reference 3, I learn that Polk came from a poor rural background, who somehow made it to New York and after a while was successful. He died there at the ripe old age of 90 in 1996. The 'after a while' including a ten year stint in teaching and teaching administration.

While I did not do very well at finding out how much people pay for this sort of stuff. Galleries and auction houses won't tell you unless you join up in some way, and maybe not even then. The best I could do was on eBay where someone wanted the picture above for close on $5,000. Plus $80 postage. No frame.

Not for me thank you very much. Maybe nouveaux riches footballers with money to burn go in for this sort of stuff to plaster over their grand houses in Fairoak Lane? That is to say the posh peoples' enclave between Malden Rushett and Oxshott. One of the houses in which is said to have a kidnapper proof safe room. As advertised at reference 4.

But a small reward is offered for anyone who can knock up convincing fakes of the pair of them in Microsoft's Powerpoint. Complete with evidence that it did not take them more than half an hour.

References

Reference 1: https://www.lissongallery.com/exhibitions/leon-polk-smith-prairie-moon.

Reference 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P9Ngjw7Mw_uJqsY6KiqMoc4YOW7VNSfW/view.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Polk_Smith.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/10/fancy-school-bus.html.