Large Doug Whitfield (B.1945) Contemporary Carved & Hand-Painted Wall Sculpture

Lot description

Contemporary art wall sculpture, signed on tail of fish Whitfield (Doug Whitfield, American, b.1945), hand-painted wood cut-out depicting a surreal nude figure with realistic facial rendering, red hair, arms outstretched holding a winged fish with rainbow detailing, a small bird painted at lower torso, approx 50.5"h, 36.75"w, 0.5"d, 9lbs Provenance: From the estate of Connie Todd (Constance Clare Todd, Austin, Texas, 1941-2024). For many years, Connie Todd was the personal assistant to prominent Austin-based book publisher, photographer, and author Bill Wittliff (William Dale Wittliff, American, active in Austin, Texas, 1940-2019). Bill Wittliff wrote celebrated screenplays such as "Lonesome Dove" (1982), "Legends of the Fall" (1994), and "Barbarosa" (2000), and founded the regionally-oriented publishing company, Encino Press, with his wife Sally in 1963. Connie Todd later served as the founding director of the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University from 1997-2010, transforming it into an internationally-acclaimed collection through noteworthy acquisitions such as the Cormac McCarthy archive. After retiring from Texas State, Connie Todd spent time traveling the world with friends and family.