AUERBACHS' CELLAR

Oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches, 1988

(Private collection, Orlando, Florida)

The artist painted this entertaining fantasy world for a client involved in sponsoring and building a children's playground in the city of Winter Park, Florida.  The structures built in the playground are depicted on the right and left sides of the painting, above the inhabited areas, which depict particular hobbies or interests of the owners.  There is a pharmacy, a bookstore, a pet store, and a music store, each individualized with the name of the family member involved in related activities.  The central structure and the title of the painting provide a camouflaged allusion to the inn in Goethe's Faust. Among important elements found in this and several other paintings are balloons, the sea, and the fences--symbols of the real life and the life of the imagination. The overall colors--with various shades of green, brown, blue, and warm yellow are earth's most abundant color symbols and are also frequently found in other paintings of the artist.

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