Julie Speed (American, b. 1951), Smoker

Gouache on Arches paper, 2004, signed at lower left, retaining gallery labels to verso, framed below glass.

Sheet size 10 x 16 in.; Frame dimensions 15 1/2 x 21 1/2 in.

From the Collection of Ron W. Djuren, Durham, North Carolina

Gerald Peters Gallery, New York

Julie Speed is a self-taught American artist renowned for her intricate, surreal compositions that blend oil painting, gouache, collage, and printmaking. After leaving the Rhode Island School of Design at 19, she spent years traveling across North America, engaging in various jobs before settling in Texas in 1978, where she began her full-time artistic practice. Now based in Marfa, her work draws from Renaissance art, scientific illustrations, and religious iconography, resulting in enigmatic narratives populated by eccentric figures and symbolic motifs. Speed's art has been showcased in numerous solo exhibitions, including East of the Sun and West of the Moon at the El Paso Museum of Art and the Taubman Museum of Art.

Good estate condition, slight grime below glass, not examined outside the frame; frame with minor losses.