Noel and Bob
© Estate of Joan Brown

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Noel and Bob

1964

Joan Brown

The human protagonist of Joan Brown’s Noel and Bob is Noel Elmer Manuel Neri, the two-year-old son of Brown and the sculptor Manuel Neri. Noel’s canine companion is the family’s bull terrier, Bob the Dog. Frequently using dogs and other animals as human surrogates in her paintings, Brown blurred the distinctions between animals and their human counterparts, observing, “I see human characteristics in animals, but maybe more to the point is that I see animal characteristics in people.”
Brown’s lush colors cannot conceal the dark undertone that pervades her painting. Noel is depicted as an innocent and parentless child, cast adrift in a spatially ambiguous landscape that is vaguely foreboding. Noel’s canine companion serves as a protective sentinel, cautiously scouting the world beyond the boundaries of the painting. Brown’s dark vision may represent an attempt to exorcise the demons of her own childhood, which she described as “dark in the psychological way.”
Artist
Joan Brown (American, 1938–1990)
Title
Noel and Bob
Date
1964
Place of Creation
California
Object Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 73 x 61 x 1 5/8 in. (185.4 x 154.9 x 4.1 cm) 72 x 60 1/4 in. (182.9 x 153 cm)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, American Art Trust Fund, Mr. and Mrs. J. Alec Merriam Fund, and Morgan and Betty Flagg Fund
Accession Number
2003.67

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