Sonny from the collection of Miriam McClung

Before cleaning

Sonny, c. 1972

Oil and Conte Crayon on Canvas

19.75 x 15.75 x 1 in

Inv: 58-MM

NFS

Not For Sale

This circa 1972 portrait shows Sonny McClung, the artist's late husband, captured in the middle of his long, difficult recovery from a traumatic brain injury. The painting is left mostly unfinished, with just his face and the loose charcoal outline of his body sketched onto the canvas, the rest of the work waiting for color and detail. There is something deeply moving about the way McClung painted only his face with care, working with warm peach and orange tones around his eyes and ear, while his body remains a ghost of pencil lines. The incomplete state of the painting feels honest about that season of their lives, when Miriam was juggling full-time caregiving for Sonny with being a new mother to their young son. It is one of the most personal and emotionally raw works in her collection, a quiet testament to their marriage and family in a difficult situation.

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From Miriam McClung

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