Expert: Ben Mahmoud - 2/2/2008

Question
QUESTION: I have searched the web for a piece of art I recall from my junior high school days, in the late sixties.  It depicts several persons sitting at a bar in a tavern, and all of them have faceless heads.  The angle is from the rear of the tavern looking at a slight angle to the front door, which is half-open with brilliant white light shining in (if you have ever been in a darkened tavern and someone opens the door suddenly, that's the impression it makes).  I have no idea who created it; I am hoping one of your readers knows something about it.

ANSWER: Where did you see this work?  Did you see it in "the flesh" or in a reproduction?  Was it in a book? What book?  What decade were you in junior high school?  The answer to these questions might help to pin down the artist/work.

My suspicion is that the work was not from someone noted in the art world, hence your not being able to find it.  I have not seen such an image.  I have a good memory, and I have been to most of the museums in the USA and Europe.

Please do a follow-up, and I will try to help you find the work.

Ben Mahmoud

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It was in the mid to late sixties, probably around 1966.  The colors were subdued, and the "persons" in the tavern were sitting at the bar on barstools.  Their heads were faceless, as in perhaps being wrapped in a white sheet, like a mummy.  I hope this helps!

Answer
I am really sorry that I cannot be of much help to you.  My training was in the fine arts.  I suspect what you were seeing was a reproduction of an illustration, especially if the figures in the painting wore contemporary dress.

Sorry that I could not have been of more help.

Ben Mahmoud