Walton Ford
b. 1960 Larchmont, New York
"It Makes Me Think of That Awful Day"
2011
Watercolor, gouache, ink, and graphite on paper mounted to aluminum

This massive portrait of King Kong is based on the original 1933 film, in which the fictional giant ape seeks to possess a young woman (played by Fay Wray). Walton Ford captures the moment of Kong’s grief near the end of the film in painstaking detail, using the fluidity and precision of watercolor to render his flowing tears and anguished expression. The painting’s title is taken from a line Wray’s character says when she sees Kong captured and put on display: “I don’t like to look at him, Jack. It makes me think of that awful day on the island.”

Ford’s paintings often focus on these moments of tension between human culture and the natural world. Using detailed techniques similar to artists of the nineteenth century who depicted nature and animals, the artist seeks to show us the deeply human side of the wild beast: “Since Kong is a Hollywood tough guy, he covers up his heartbreak with violence and anger. These paintings are about Kong's heartbreak. I wanted to reveal the monster's grief, his enormous sadness, the sorrow that the original Kong kept hidden from view,” Ford has described.