February 12, 2008

"Mark Spitz corkscrew"

Oil on archival museum quality 1/8" gessobord panel - 5" x 5"


This is the companion piece to the painting (Haut Medoc-1997) that I did in December. The ubiquitous Mark Spitz corkscrew has been around for quite a while. We all have one tucked away in a draw somewhere. Though not my favorite device for the extraction of a cork from a lovely bottle of Bordeaux, it is always there as a reliable backup when the Cépage Laguiole corkscrew goes missing, as it is wont to do, buried under the myriad of saved corks in the drawer where it resides. Why Mark Spitz you ask? Those of us old enough to remember Mark Spitz capturing a record seven gold medals at the 1972 Olympics also remember just before we opened that bottle of Mateus Rosé or Lancers, we would hold the chrome corkscrew horizontally, pull in and out on the screw end, the levers swimming wildly through the air and ask with a giddy laugh “Hey guys, who’s this?" ...I guess you had to be there.

5 comments:

Diana Moses Botkin said...

What a perfect name for your corkscrew. Ah yes Mark Spitz was a joy to watch. He wasn't even breathing hard after swimming his record-breaking events.

And what a perfect painting.. wonderful simplicity and interest, especially the title!

Mark Adams said...

Thanks, Diana.
I would have liked to have made this painting slightly larger, but it was commissioned to be the companion piece to a painting (Haut Medoc-1997) that I did in December.
Spitz was the Yogi Berra (or should that be Jessica Simpson?) of his time and came up with such choice bon mots as: “Because a known fact is better than an unknown fact” etc. Beauty, brains, athleticism, and a cheesy mustache; he had to all.

Diane said...

love the "Mighty Spitz"... incredible reflections both metallic and memory!

Paul Pinson said...

On l'appelle aussi “le tire bouchon: De Gaule“, when he say “ Francais, je vous ai compris“.
Le camembert est bien fait, et les huitres, on en mangerais.
Votre baguette et votre béret sont charmants. J'adore...
Au plaisir

Mark Adams said...

Merci beaucoup, Paul