Dexter Dalwood, Sunny Von Bulow, 2003, Oil on Canvas,105 x 207cm
In his painting of Sunny Von Bulow, Dexter Dalwood draws poignant comparison between the New York socialite and Pre-Raphaelite representations of Shakespeare's Ophelia. Plagued by depression and mental instability, Sunny slipped into irreversible coma in 1980; her husband, art dealer Claus Von Bulow, was initially convicted and later acquitted of attempted poisoning. Here, Dalwood portrays the heiress as an eternal beauty, trapped in a morbidly poetic slumber. Based on an 1852 painting by John Everett Millais, Dalwood weaves art historical reference into contemporary popular conscience, adding gravitas and reverence of legacy to the transient limelight of today's media culture.
