The Last Game: An American Realist Meditation

LOT 6

ALIEASE SIMMONS The Last Game: An American Realist Meditation Digital painting [dimensions in inches] Executed in 2025

PROVENANCE:

• Artist's studio

• Direct from the artist

CONDITION: Excellent, with intentional period-appropriate aging. Museum-quality presentation with period-appropriate frame.

This masterful work represents Simmons' breakthrough in American Realist painting capturing the timeless atmosphere of male social ritual in early-to-mid 20th century America while exploring profound questions about authenticity and artistic value.

Simmons presents two men in period dress one in white shirt and vest, another in dark suit engaged in a game of billiards. The composition captures quiet concentration, with the geometry of the pool table creating formal structure while the figures' poses suggest psychological narrative. Simmons' understanding of Edward Hopper's psychological tension, Thomas Eakins' athletic subjects, and the Ashcan School's working-class authenticity is evident throughout.

Simmons' innovative technique combines digital generation with intentional aging processes. The deliberate craquelure (crack patterns) throughout the surface creates the appearance of a painting that has survived 70+ years. This conceptual choice serves multiple purposes: exploring how we value "old" versus "new" art, questioning what makes a painting "authentic," and collapsing temporal distance between 1952 (the era Simmons imagines) and 2025 (when she created it).

This is not a painting that has aged, it's a painting Simmons created already aged.

The work required extensive research into period American Realist technique, hundreds of generations to achieve authentic 1940s-1950s atmosphere, and sophisticated post-processing to apply convincing aging effects. Simmons' artistic vision transforms what could be nostalgic genre painting into conceptual exploration of authenticity in the digital age.

The period-appropriate ornate gold frame (showing its own age wear) completes Simmons' vision every element serves the work's investigation of how we assign value to art objects based on perceived age and authenticity. Inquire for availability and acquisition details. Please see "How to Buy"

About the Medium: Created using AI generative tools under Simmons' artistic direction, with traditional aging techniques applied

• Unframed: 54" × 84" (4.5' × 7')

• Framed: 62" × 92"