Description:

Hunt Slonem (b. 1951), American
MIDLAND (DIAMOND DUST), 2022

oil, acrylic, and diamond dust on panel
signed, titled, and dated verso
10 x 8 in — 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Estimate: $6,000—8,000 CAD

  • Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario
  • Dimensions: 10 x 8 in — 25.4 x 20.3 cm
  • Medium: oil, acrylic, and diamond dust on panel
  • Notes: Known for his vividly coloured paintings of rabbits and tropical flora and fauna, Neo-Expressionist artist Hunt Slonem presents works imbued with whimsy and playfulness. Beginning his career at Tulane University in New Orleans and then honing his craft at the Skowhegan School alongside the likes of Alex Katz, Slonem developed his unmistakable style amid New York’s Pop Art movement in the 1970s.

    When he initially arrived in New York, Slonem’s oeuvre was centred on the depiction of religious scenes. It is from the foreground of these scenes, lush with greenery and adorable, allegorical animals, that his penchant for rabbits began. Slonem started painting rabbits as a warm-up exercise to ease his body into the fluidity of painting. With these “warmups” strewn across his studio, patrons took notice and started expressing interest in the works. With this unexpected success, the rabbits took on a spiritual meaning for Slonem.

    “There is a lot of interesting folklore that is connected to rabbits. They have been mystical creatures for centuries and appear in all kinds of literature such as the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland… I view them as a kind of transcendental creature with the power of connecting us to different realities… I talk to mystics a lot about bunnies and one of them once said to me that rabbits would take me to places I have never been. It was true.”[1]

    Midland (Diamond Dust), 2022, is a quintessential example of one of the seminal forms that thrust Slonem into the spotlight and has attracted collectors for decades. The addition of diamond dust to the work cements its status as a blue-chip commodity in an exemplary yet contemporary Pop Art manner.

    [1] Benjamin Genocchio, ‘Hunt Slonem: On the Mystical Pleasures of Bunnies, Butterflies, Birds’: Incollect Articles, InCollect, July 26, 2023, https://www.incollect.com/articles/hunt-slonem-on-the-mystical-pleasures-of-bunnies-butterflies-birds
  • Condition: Very good overall condition.

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28 May 2026 17:00 EDT
Toronto, ON, CA

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
CA$0 CA$199 CA$10
CA$200 CA$499 CA$20
CA$500 CA$999 CA$50
CA$1,000 CA$1,999 CA$100
CA$2,000 CA$4,999 CA$200
CA$5,000 CA$9,999 CA$500
CA$10,000 CA$19,999 CA$1,000
CA$20,000 CA$49,999 CA$2,000
CA$50,000 CA$99,999 CA$5,000
CA$100,000 CA$299,999 CA$10,000
CA$300,000 CA$999,999 CA$25,000
CA$1,000,000 CA$1,999,999 CA$50,000
CA$2,000,000 CA$2,999,999 CA$100,000
CA$3,000,000 CA$4,999,999 CA$200,000
CA$5,000,000 + CA$300,000