h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It's a long shot.

Eleven years ago in August I was in St. Ives in Cornwall. You can guess why.

While I was there I saw a painting in a shop window. I've regretted not buying it ever since. I'm trying to find out if it was a reproduction of something, so I could hold out a hope of getting a copy. If it was a one-off original, well, I may never see it again.

It's about A2 size, portrait. It shows two men, in suits, in profile, facing each other. The one on the left is leaning back, knees bent, arms extended downwards. He has his eyebrows raised and his mouth open in a smile. The man on the right looks serious, and is leaning forward, one leg straight, the other bent. They appear to be dancing. The painting is in colours of blue and green, not at all naturalistic.

That painting spoke to me deeply, and I wish I'd bought it when I had the chance. I think I'd pay dearly for it now. If anyone recognises it from my poor description and could suggest where or indeed even if I could buy it, I'd be forever grateful.

Thank you.

Oh, this request was prompted by reading the thread about "Chinese Girl". The colours were a bit like the girl's skin in that painting.

Sounds like the sort of thing Gilbert & George would paint...

The subjects did look a bit like Gilbert & George, now you mention it, although the larger gentleman didn't have glasses. But the style didn't look anything like them.

If nobody knows anything about it, could someone suggest somewhere I might have better luck?

How about St Ives?

I'll bet on the way there he met a man with seven wives.

More painting info, other than the colours was it impressionist, realistic, oil, pastel, ?

How about a David Remfry? All sorts of different people dancing is a major theme in his work.

Don't really know how to describe it. Don't know much about art, but I know what I like!

It wasn't realistic, really. Didn't look like it was trying to look like a photo, not like, say, Jack Vettriano paintings. More a sort of very good cartoon.

Probably oil paint, but again I don't really know.

Remfry: too realistic, and too famous, I think.

http://verongallery.com/images/CPA%202%20men%20dancing%20bandana.jpg ???


http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/07/7907-050-8C2D0551.jpg ???


http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/4/62/13264/v0_master.jpg ???

Bizarrely, it had a bit of each - the colour weirdness of the first, the atmosphere/feeling weirdness of the second, and the sort of position of the third, except it was in profile instead of over one guy's shoulder. But it's none of those.

I don't think I'll ever find it

Do you have any artistic ability? You could set yourself the goal of trying to recreate it.

Stick men is my limit, I'm afraid.

I've spoken with two artists who were active in St. Ives at the time, neither of whom think it was one of theirs. One of them offered to try to recreate it for me, but I don't think even that's possible. It was such a singular image, and my memory of it after nearly 11 years is too fuzzy, that I would be inevitably disappointed with any attempt to recreate it from my description.

Oh well.