The Ascension of Jane

Donald Roller Wilson’s Patricia Had Received Three Messages is a characteristically surreal work from the artist’s singular world of animals, coded inscriptions and theatrical stillness. At the center, Patricia holds a glowing asparagus against a dark, stage-like ground, framed by Wilson’s handwritten narrative and custom artist’s frame. 

1978
Oil on canvas in artist’s frame
57 3/5 × 47 1/2 in
(146.3 × 120.7 cm)

About the Maker:
Donald Roller Wilson is an American painter born in Houston in 1938. He studied painting and art history before teaching at the University of Arkansas from 1967 to 1974, after which his work gained national attention through exhibitions, press coverage and gallery representation in New York. Wilson is known for his precisely rendered paintings of dogs, cats, monkeys and other anthropomorphic figures, often paired with enigmatic captions, elaborate custom frames and dreamlike narrative fragments. His work is held in major public collections including the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.