"Blue Tragedy/Warped" #1/5 — Framed Collage, Herbert Simon Estate, 2008

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From The Herbert Simon Studio Archive, this monumental, museum-scale framed photocollage titled "Blue Tragedy / Warped" was created by artist … Read more From The Herbert Simon Studio Archive, this monumental, museum-scale framed photocollage titled "Blue Tragedy / Warped" was created by artist Herbert Simon in 2008. Hand-annotated as number 1 of an elite edition of only 5, this large-scale graphic work stands as a brilliant contemporary reimagining of early modernist art.The artwork presents a striking deconstruction of Pablo Picasso's iconic 1903 Blue Period painting, The Tragedy. Simon precisely sliced the somber, blue-toned figures into fine horizontal strips, restacking and offsetting them to produce a mesmerizing, stepped kinetic wave illusion. This optical "glitch" effect transforms the classical figurative study into a dynamic, contemporary architectural statement.The lower black mat features the artist's original hand-written silver signatures and annotations: titled on the left ("BLUE TRAGEDY / WARPED"), numbered in the center ("1/5"), and signed/dated on the right ("H B Simon 2008"). A secondary, original signature is integrated directly into the lower right corner of the imagery. The piece comes professionally housed in a sleek, custom metallic gallery frame.

About The Herbert Simon Studio Archive: This piece belongs to an exclusive,
single-provenance acquisition sourced directly from the private estate and studio archive of celebrated American sculptor and university professor Herbert Simon (1927–2017). A student of abstract expressionist titans Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, and Philip Guston, Simon served as a professor at Wilkes University for over 20 years, where his work bridged the gap between the New York School and academic structuralism. His monumental public commissions are permanently installed at major regional landmarks, including the 'Facets' aluminum installation at Wilkes University, the 'Aloft' sculpture at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, and civic plazas across Pennsylvania. Spanning over fifty years of creative evolution, this collection represents a rare opportunity to acquire investment-grade art with institutional provenance.

✨ Discover the Complete Estate Collection: This piece is a featured highlight from The Herbert Simon Studio Archive. Click our storefront profile to explore a curated selection of Simon's 50-year career, including companion mid-century wood carvings, brutalist welded metals, and abstract expressionist framed art available for immediate purchase. See less