Troubled Sleeve

Christina Ramberg was one of the Chicago Imagists, a group of artists who emerged in the 1960s and embraced the figure in their work, often with wit and irreverence. Ramberg’s paintings and drawings fragment the female form—cropping, manipulating, and stylizing female body parts with a keen sense of fashion, texture, and pattern. In her explorations of both physical and psychological constraints and allures of traditional feminine identity she rarely implicated actual human flesh. Rather her works are shells or masks: the heads are tightly wrapped and manicured while torsos and arms are shaped and bound as if by a corset, as in Troubled Sleeve. Much like her choice of subjects, Ramberg’s style of rendering is restrained: her muted palette and distilled shapes are distinguished by strong black outlines and detailed patterning. Through studies and notes (see acquisition no. 2011.28 and 2011.26) she experimented with compositions and honed her focus. While providing a privileged glimpse into her working process, these studies reveal her structured and detailed aesthetic and the rigor, humor, and curiosity that recur throughout her work.