Roger Hane , Surreal Men's Shirts Against and Magritte Sky, 1971

Stella Illustrator/Artist Roger Hane's painting of three bodyless shirts set against a surreal landscape is more than what it appears to be. The painting was created on assignment for Playboy Magazine to accompany an article on Men's fashion titled "Knit Picks". Upon closer examination, fifty-five years after its creation, the painting is a blend of Surrealism, Minimalism, and Illustration Art. Look carefully at the magenta shirt, and it's a painstaking arrangement of car emojis. Each car is ever so slightly different from the next and lined up with the precision of an Agnes Martin grid painting. The same applies to the other shirt patterns. The shirts alone are a testament to the artist's meticulous technical skill and patience in completing a deceptively simple yet complex artwork.
The work is unsigned and housed in it's original heavy metal frame. It appeared on page 115 of the August 1971 issue of Playboy Magazine, illustrating the fashion article by Robert L. Green titled "Knit Picks," with the caption "Easy-wearing casual shirts in eye-appealing patterns."
Acrylic on Canvas Board, Frame size 16 . 21 inches
Roger Hane, American, 1938–1974
US$9,000 Plus Shipping