The Ludwig Museum houses a painting by the American artist Ralph Goings depicting a typical day of a diner in a provincial town. The depicted people are engaged in their daily routines: the young woman at the counter prepares coffee, and the waitress in a yellow dress takes orders from clients.
The painter worked with light and its reflection. He put a special emphasis on shiny reflecting surfaces — the polished aluminum counter, transparent plastic cloches that cover the food, and steel parts of bar stools. The counter mirrors the man depicted in the center.
The name of the painting “Unadilla Diner” indicates that the diner is located in a small town in New York State. The key to understanding the meaning of the painting lies in the words of Andy Warhol. He used to say that the beauty of American democracy is that you can always get the same food, like a juicy tasty hamburger, as everyone else no matter who you are.
Ralph Goings often portrayed ordinary Americans and ordinary places such as trailers where many Americans live. He strove to render the jamais vu moment when a familiar place is seen from an unexpected perspective and takes on new meanings.
Ralph Goings was born in Corning, California, in 1928. In 1953, he got the degree of a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He received his MFA in painting from Sacramento State College in 1965.
Goings was one of the leading hyperrealists. This movement is also known as Photorealism or Sharp Focus realism. It emerged at the turn of the 1970s as a response to abstract art which was characterized by individual artistic techniques of handling materials.
Hyperrealists believed that subjective artistic vision should be replaced with a photographic depiction of reality. They often used photographs and worked out the minute details to reproduce the image as realistically as possible.
Goings filled his paintings with sunlight and air, trying to convey the atmosphere of Californian semi-desert that was so dear to him.
The painter worked with light and its reflection. He put a special emphasis on shiny reflecting surfaces — the polished aluminum counter, transparent plastic cloches that cover the food, and steel parts of bar stools. The counter mirrors the man depicted in the center.
The name of the painting “Unadilla Diner” indicates that the diner is located in a small town in New York State. The key to understanding the meaning of the painting lies in the words of Andy Warhol. He used to say that the beauty of American democracy is that you can always get the same food, like a juicy tasty hamburger, as everyone else no matter who you are.
Ralph Goings often portrayed ordinary Americans and ordinary places such as trailers where many Americans live. He strove to render the jamais vu moment when a familiar place is seen from an unexpected perspective and takes on new meanings.
Ralph Goings was born in Corning, California, in 1928. In 1953, he got the degree of a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the California College of Arts and Crafts. He received his MFA in painting from Sacramento State College in 1965.
Goings was one of the leading hyperrealists. This movement is also known as Photorealism or Sharp Focus realism. It emerged at the turn of the 1970s as a response to abstract art which was characterized by individual artistic techniques of handling materials.
Hyperrealists believed that subjective artistic vision should be replaced with a photographic depiction of reality. They often used photographs and worked out the minute details to reproduce the image as realistically as possible.
Goings filled his paintings with sunlight and air, trying to convey the atmosphere of Californian semi-desert that was so dear to him.
