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"The First Gray Hair"
Gustav Courgette
Courgette, in the best Depressionist style, recorded life's
little downsides— physical shocks like the first gray hair, the crow's-feet, the
hernia, failing vision, senility and general debility. Note Man with Nose
Hairs (1861). And also social faux pas like the bounced check, the snub, the
elevator fart, and similar embarrassments. His Man Wearing Argyle Socks with
Check Trousers is an acknowledged masterpiece, capturing the dawning
awareness of the man that he is the focal point of the snickering, not the woman
with the pepperoni.
Courgette is believed to have strongly influenced the American artist
Art Frahm, who
documented the effect of gravity (and sometimes celery) on the elastic of
undergarments.
Not much is known about Courgette. Even his autobiography was written by
somebody else. Most of his contemporaries agreed that he was fat, though:
Claude Monet: "Man sure loved his food. Watched him one time in
this all-you-can-eat place on the Rive Gauche. Dude put down 2 crown
rib roasts and enough mashed potatoes to float a boat. Owner of the
bistro was in tears, man!"
Pablo Picasso: "I never knew him personally, but impersonally I
thought he was a fat slob. Who else would bring a tub of custard to
the opera?"
Paul Cézanne: "Oy, Courgette! I had this nice still life one time,
Study in Meat, Fish and Poultry, and the mamzer ate
the whole schmeer while I was cleaning my brushes. And I
still owed on the rump roast and herring! And it was Matjes, no
less!"
Max Ernst: "Y' know
The Elephant Celebes, the' one wot I done wit' th' back side
of a elephink?" Wol, 'at's th' front side of Courgette!" |
The First Gray Hair was purchased by Pavel Gombitch, a Parisian hairdresser
of Russian extraction, who for many years used it as a signboard outside his
shop in Montmartre until he found out it was worth money.
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Acquisition made possible by a generous grant from L'Oreal®.
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