Female Portrait

In 2021, the Morgan acquired twenty-eight drawings by American artist George Condo (b. 1957) that offer an overview of his career over the last forty-five years. Drawing, or "visual thinking" as he calls it, is central to Condo's practice, which centers around the figure. Engaged in a continuous dialogue with earlier masters, from Rembrandt and Goya to Picasso and de Kooning, Condo uses traditional styles and techniques to create imaginary portraits in which wild distortions suggest extreme psychological states. "Everybody I draw is kind of a lunatic," he acknowledges.