C. Thilken, 24" x 30"
I must admit that lately I've been a bit discouraged in my search for new items up to my usual high standards, but seeing pieces as wonderful as the above are what keep me motivated. The 1960's Howard Johnson's color scheme is stupendous, and the stylized figures remind me of an out-of-date Sunday School textbook with weirdly colored watercolor drawings. (By the way, check out the bland new HoJo logo and graphics at their corporate website. I must admit to being a bit nostalgic for the garish colors of the HoJo ice cream parlors and hotels in days gone by .....).
I'm almost certain that the city depicted is Jerusalem, but it's the figures that are the real knockout. I believe the artisan on the left is either weaving cloth or working on some sort of musical instrument, while the couple on the right appears to be waiting patiently for the day's commerce to begin, of what nature, I'm unsure. In the middle, a couple hand-in-hand and a lone thinker pass through an archway into the foreground of the picture. It looks like the male figures are depicted in blue while the women wear orange, but it's tough to know for sure.
Best of all, this painting is mounted in some type of homemade frame complete with ceramic bathroom (?) tiles which have been glued around the outer edges.