Burger Chef Interior (Primary Title)

Ralph Goings, American, 1928 - 2016 (Artist)

1972
American
oil on canvas
Unframed: 39 3/8 × 56 in. (100.01 × 142.24 cm)
Framed: 40 1/2 × 56 1/2 in. (102.87 × 143.51 cm)
85.393

"There are a lot of reflective surfaces, a lot of transparent surfaces, so your eye is moving in and out and back in again. There’s a complexity that I think begins to show with the interiors." —Ralph Goings

Like other Photorealists, Goings sought subjects that might be dismissed as banal, such as trucks, diners, and ketchup and mustard bottles. Burger Chef Interior belongs to his series of glass-enclosed fast-food restaurants as light-infused spaces.

Despite his interest in preciserenderings of the visible world, Goings acknowledged the influences of Minimalist and Conceptual Art. By using a predetermined subject that changed little over his career and the photograph as his continual source, Goings made many decisions about the painting even before putting brush to canvas. This detachment from subjectivity dampens feelings of nostalgia or sentimentality his work might otherwise convey.

Gift of Sydney and Frances Lewis
Look Here: FEAST exhibition, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, March 15 – June 25, 2006

Get Real: Selections from the Collection of the VMFA, William King Regional Arts Center, Abingdon, VA, February 5 – May 15, 1999; Olin Hill Gallery, Roanoke College, Salem, VA, October 10 – December 5, 1999

Realism in a Postmodern World: Selections from the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection, Maier Museum of Art, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Lynchburg, VA, January 21 – March 25, 1990

Spotlight Loan, Piedmont Arts Association, Martinsville, VA, September 22 – October 22, 1987

Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water, Spokane World Exposition, Spokane, WA, May 1 – November 1, 1974

Real Cool/Cool Real, Duke University, Durham, NC, September 28 – October 21, 1973

Divergent Representation: Five Contemporary Artists, NCFA, Washington, DC, June 15 – September 3, 1973

Young American Artists in the Lewis Collection, Roanoke Fine Arts Center, Roanoke, VA, January 7 – February 3, 1973
Chase, Linda. Ralph Goings. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1988. (P. 45).

Brandt, Frederick R. Late 20th Century Art. Richmond: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 1985. (No. 37, p. 78-9).

Meisel, Louis K. PhotoRealism. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1980. (No. 603, p. 286).

“Realist Works are on Display.” Richmond Times-Dispatch (March 6, 1977): h-4. (B/w ill. p. H-4).

Frankenstein, Alfred V. Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water: An Exhibition of American & Canadian Art. Spokane, WA: International Exposition, 1974. (No. 87, p. 33).
(O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York) by 1972; Purchased in 1972 by Mr. and Mrs. Sydney and Frances Lewis, Virginia; Gift to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA), Richmond, Virginia in December of 1985.
© Ralph Goings

Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.