7: ROBERT TINDALL (1913-1983) EGG TEMPERA ON BOARD

Robert Elton Tindall (Independence, Mo. 1913-1983)
And They Crucified Him (Circa 1940.)
The rare egg tempera painting by Kansas City area artist Robert Tindall is signed lower left front and displayed in its original frame with exhibition labels verso.


Paintings by Robert Elton Tindall of Kansas City and Independence, Missouri are quite rare. Only a few examples have been documented, and there are no records on Internet databases of his works ever having been offered at auction anywhere.

In 1940, Thomas Hart Benton organized a show with the Associated American Artists in New York for what he considered to be his most talented students of the previous two years. The catalog for that exhibition lists four works by Robert Tindall (50. Pumpkin Vine, 51. Stop. Look, Listen, 52. Old Gem, 53. Winged Victory). Add to these a few pieces that were sold from Tom and Rita Benton's estate, plus a few others for sale at Kodner Gallery in St. Louis - and the total number of paintings known by this talented artist equals 15 or less. The painting up for bid here is the largest of those few that are known in this egg tempera medium, and the most complex.

Before his studies at the Kansas City Art Institute, Robert Tindall earned a BA and MA at the University of Kansas. Between 1940 and 1950 he participated in group exhibitions from Denver to New York, and in the decade that followed. he enjoyed a number of one-man shows and exhibitions around the Midwest. It could be that the label on the work up for bid here relates to one of these.

This powerful composition fully embodies the artist's range and talent. Some biographers emphasize the delicate nature of Tindall's painting and the sensitivity of it; while others address his penchant for surrealism. Both are evident here. His mastery of the egg tempera technique, and the radiance he achieves work to complete those characteristics and boost the dramatic intensity of this picture.

The ancient scene is populated by animated, muscular, young male figures curiously depicted wearing 20th century hair styles and hybrid, ambiguous tight fitting garb. The composition arrangement displays the influence of not only Benton, who taught both Tindall and Tindall's instructor Edward Laning, but it also echoes the influence of another Laning mentor, Kenneth Hayes Miller. And a Miller understudy named Paul Cadmus comes to mind as well.

Tindall spares no symbolism or detail. Loose dirt and a hole for the cross are extreme left. The men in the scene barter for Christ's shroud and personal effects as did the Roman soldiers of antiquity. A skull far right perhaps represents the universality of Christ's sacrifice and or redemption for mankind. A tomb, storm clouds, a tree sprouting the greenery of hope, a river flowing to the father's throne, and other allegories are depicted.
Board measures 15 x 24 with a framed size of 23 x 32 inches.
Very good original untouched condition. There are no issues of major scratches, losses, repairs, in-painting or touch-up.
$3,000 - $5,000