Fifth Commandment: Honor thy parents. That creates for life insurance lower rates

Artist:

Peter Paone

(b. 1936)

Fifth Commandment: Honor thy parents. That creates for life insurance lower rates

Medium: Etching and aquatint on paper
Date: 1963
Dimensions:
30 x 22 in. (76.2 x 55.9 cm.)
Accession number: 2023.13.36
Curatorial RemarksPeter Paone (b. 1936) presents two children and their mother. In a twist on the commandment to honor one’s parents, he depicts her with exposed breasts and compassionate hand gestures that suggest maternal nurturing while the rather impudent children—masked and preoccupied—appear to mock her entreaties.




Completed in 1963, The Ten Commandments of Ambrose Bierce garnered Paone a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1965, allowing him to study in London and Paris. The Brandywine’s exhibition, “In Shadows’ Embrace: Prints by Peter Paone” (2024) is the first time in 57 years that the portfolio is being shown in full, the last being at the Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris.

On view