Lot 38
GAYLEEN AIKEN(American, 1934-2005)Two Works on Paper
6 – 16 July 2025, 12:00 EDT
Online, Skinner Marlborough, MassachusettsUS$700 - US$1,000
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Carly Babione
Department Director
GAYLEEN AIKEN (American, 1934-2005)
Two Works on Paper
Mrs. Raimbilli And Gawleen Cook Their "Raimbilli"-Hill Macaroni And Spaghetti On Their Old Stove, And I Cook Mine on My More Modern Stove
The Top Up, Open, Inside View Of An Old Player-Nickelodeon-Music Machine
both signed 'By Gayleen Aiken' (lower right); both titled (along lower edge); both dated '1987' and '1988' and with further inscriptions (on the reverse)
crayon and graphite on paper
up to 22 x 28 in. (55.8 x 71.1 cm)
unframed
Mrs. Raimbilli And Gawleen Cook Their "Raimbilli"-Hill Macaroni And Spaghetti On Their Old Stove, And I Cook Mine on My More Modern Stove
The Top Up, Open, Inside View Of An Old Player-Nickelodeon-Music Machine
both signed 'By Gayleen Aiken' (lower right); both titled (along lower edge); both dated '1987' and '1988' and with further inscriptions (on the reverse)
crayon and graphite on paper
up to 22 x 28 in. (55.8 x 71.1 cm)
unframed
Footnotes
N.B.
Musician, writer, and outsider artist Gayleen Aiken was born in Barre, Vermont, and spent most of her life in the surrounding area. She was a self-taught artist and worked in a wide variety of media and formats. Many of Aiken's works are populated by a group called the "Rambilli cousins", an imaginary extended family whom Aiken created in elementary school. These imaginary figures and their adventures remain central fixtures of Aiken's art throughout her career. "Cousin Gawleen", one of these imaginary playmates, appears in one of the present works.
Aiken used her art and writing to reconstruct the memories of her Vermont childhood, including the home she grew up in. She was bullied in school and therefore homeschooled after junior high, and her family was forced to sell their beloved farmhouse when her father died in 1950. It is possible that the Rambilli cousins and their lives are visions of the large family and idyllic childhood that Gayleen did not have, as her work often depicts familiar landscapes - frequently including the same dilapidated farmhouse in which she grew up - encased in a sort of nostalgic unreality. The Raimbillis existed in this lyrically beautiful vision of Vermont and its countryside which Aiken so lovingly depicted. As Vermont Public Radio's Steve Zind commented, 'The Raimbillis were the big family Gayleen never had. But they also represented something more universal. The happy Raimbillis, in their sturdy farmhouses filled with music, with the soft moonlight falling on the rooftops - these images aren't just Gayleen's idealized Vermont. They represent a Vermont we all carry in our imaginations."
Iterations of the below inscriptions are found on both works:
'By Gayleen Aiken / Artist, musician, camp, / I like old Nickelodeon - music boxs, I play music on xylophones, organs, pianos, harmonicas, small bells, and more, I like large country houses, I been in movie films.'
'Artist, musician, hobbyist. I wrote funny comic-books. I been in movie films. I play music on harmonicas, xylophones, pianos, marimbas, organs, kalimbas, flutes, autoharp, a little on guitar, accordions, pan-pipe flute, little bells, windchimes and more. When we camps around helping relatives with the camps, farmlands, apartment properties, we like & miss our very old pretty wallpaper, chandeliers, porches, closits, attics, very fancy old halls, yards, old sinks, fancy old woodwork & more, woods. We miss our old familier scenes & country hills. We move often. We camp around. We once thought we wanted to have a big hobby-museum in our old heirloom art studio. Music echo good in the old high ceilings of old big rooms. We might move back to one of our old large heirloom country houses later. We camp now.' (on the reverse)
'If person who buys my art, wants to write friendly letter to me, ok. Please be sure to tell me if you saw & heard an old Nickelodeon, or not? Any? Some? Where one? Do you do art too? Tell me about your musics and hobby, spots, favorite things. Tell me about your largest house or biggest buildings you lived in or owned, and smaller, tell me about your family.' (on the reverse)
OVERALL CONDITION: There is a crease in the lower left corner of The Top Up and age-related toning to both sheets. There is some scattered foxing to both.
This condition report is provided for your convenience based on the opinion of our cataloguers. It is not a comprehensive condition report and if you require more detailed information, please contact us. Lots are sold on an 'as is' basis, with all faults and imperfections.
