Man and I.V.

Hugh Steers

1994 · Oil on canvas · Modern and Contemporary Art

Trained in the traditions of classical European painting, Steers deeply admired the works of historical court artists such as van Dyke, Velazquez, and Jacques-Louis David. Steers lived in New York from the mid-1980s on and remained HIV-positive but asymptomatic for a decade or so while numerous friends and acquaintances succumbed to AIDS in the long years before successful treatment finally made the disease more manageable (and less stigmatized). Beginning with his diagnosis and subsequent hospitalization for HIV-related pneumonia in 1991, Steers began to appear in his work as a distinctive alter ego, always dressed in a hospital gown and high-heeled pumps. Here, the fantasy figure Steers called Hospital Man poses like a Rococo king, his rolling I.V. as his scepter and his hospital bed as his erstwhile throne. He stands with hands on hips—full contrapposto—and his regality and power seemingly belie the fate that so devastatingly awaits him.

Artist

Hugh Steers

Date

1994

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Anonymous gift in memory of Florent Molard, 2022