“Turn of a Friendly Card” (2023)

Artist: Abbey Ryan (All)

5 Comments - 133 Views - 1 Like

“Turn of a Friendly Card” (2023) Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	“Turn of a Friendly Card” (2023)
Artist:	Abbey Ryan (All)
Media Type:	Paint - Oil
Art Type:	Commission
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	133
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	2/17/2024
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“Turn of a Friendly Card” (2023)
By Abbey Ryan (1979-)
20×24, oil on canvas

In 2017, when I turned 60, I commissioned a pair of “legacy” paintings from Abbey Ryan, whose work I have collected for many years. The concepts were to pay homage to my career as a chemistry professor (this painting) and also to my Italian heritage on my father’s side of the family (the companion painting). Abbey is an excellent painter whose style evokes the Dutch Masters, and whose work could easily be mistaken for paintings from straight out of that era. These are the largest and most complex compositions she has attempted to date (and knocked them straight out of the park). Nearly all of the objects came from me, and she gets 100% credit for everything else.

This painting is titled “Turn of a Friendly Card.” The title is a direct pull from the themed 1980 record album by The Alan Parsons Project, which features songs that revolve around gambling and the Vegas culture. The titular song contains the lyric “And the game never ends when your whole world depends on the turn of a friendly card.” That line has always impressed me as a broader comment on science, and all of life, as a game of chance whose outcome relies so often on a random good turn that happens in the right place at the right time.

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About the Owner

	Brian Coppola Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2009
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Rob Stolzer
Member Since 2004

Posted on 2/18/2024

I'm not sure what PUCK has to do with chemistry, but that's a hell of a painting. The enlarged version shows more of the brush work, which I really enjoy seeing.

Brian Coppola
Member Since 2009

1 - Posted on 2/18/2024

Rob Stolzer wrote:

I'm not sure what PUCK has to do with chemistry, but that's a hell of a painting. The enlarged version shows more of the brush work, which I really enjoy seeing.

Thanks, Rob. Haha. The description with detail about the objects in both of the paintings is too long for the CAF space.

If you are curious, check them out here -

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/bcoppola/category/musings/

It's been raising the great question for some: what would I put in MY paintings?

Rob Stolzer
Member Since 2004

Posted on 2/18/2024

Brian Coppola wrote:

Thanks, Rob. Haha. The description with detail about the objects in both of the paintings is too long for the CAF space.

If you are curious, check them out here -

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/bcoppola/category/musings/

It's been raising the great question for some: what would I put in MY paintings?

Ah, the fuller context adds a great deal to the work. Thanks for the link, Brian.

Kasra Ghanbari
Member Since 2004
CAF Administrator

Posted on 2/18/2024

Absolutely lovely piece. The absence of an outright momento mori, as much as it's a driver of what we do, is refreshing.

Brian Coppola
Member Since 2009

Posted on 2/18/2024

Kasra Ghanbari wrote:

Absolutely lovely piece. The absence of an outright momento mori, as much as it's a driver of what we do, is refreshing.

Kasra! Or the Dean of Modok, if you prefer! Thanks. I was blown away by what Abbey turned in on this - her absolute first time at anything this complex, and at the same time, assembled from my stuff not hers. Your comment is apt (although she did put a musca depicta in the other one). On the other hand, a "legacy painting" commissioned by someone turning 60 might be as momento mori as you get. That truly awesome OAX Modok piece of yours has strong overtones of the work that Max Grundy does.

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