Dusti Bongé lost drawing

By Chadd ScottMay 22, 20220 Comments

Dusti Bongé, Staccato Notes, 1974, Pen & ink on paper, 14” x 11”.

This week, the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation in Biloxi, MS is asking for your help! Have you seen this Dusti Bongé lost drawing?

Insight into the artwork, as always, comes from Dusti Bongé Art Foundation Executive Director Ligia M. Römer.

Dusti Bongé, Staccato Notes, 1974, Pen & ink on paper, 14” x 11”.

In music staccato is defined as “performed with each note sharply detached or separated from the others.” More in general it suggests anything made, done, or happening in an abrupt, non-continuous, detached, or disjointed way.

This pen and ink drawing indeed presents the oval forms or “notes” as clearly separated from one another, given each one’s distinct outlines and markings. And yet, as in music, despite their distinctness they are not disparate elements. Instead, they unquestionably come together as a whole, belonging together in the overall composition. Each of the notes is however somewhat unique, with some being almost opaque and others totally clear, some light, while others dark.

The yellow rectangular shape, outlined in the same purple marks as the staccato notes, serves as the background that holds the distinct pieces together. In fact, the rectangle almost appears as a window through which the notes are flowing in. As in music, some of the pieces then start to trail off, while others briefly take center stage.

This work appeared in Dusti Bongé’s 1982 book The Life of an Artist with one of her short poems:

To loose, to gain

To gain, to loose

White balls bounced

Against a grey wall

Staccato notes playing

One against another

Beating, bouncing

Grey, white

Walls and Balls

Surrounded by a square circle.

Now, on a different note (no pun intended), have you seen this work? This is one of several of Dusti Bongé’s artworks for which we currently do not have complete information. Specifically, we do not know its current location.

Do you or someone you know have this work in their collection? If so, we would love to hear from you. We are continuously working to make sure we know where all of Dusti’s artwork currently is, or whether it may have met an unfortunate end, such as having been lost in a storm.

If you have any information on this piece, you can contact us at director@dustibonge.org.