Madonna the Hat 1989

Mark Kostabi made this painting, Madonna the Hat, with acrylic on canvas. It’s like he's handing us a puzzle – a familiar Madonna scene, but twisted through his own lens. The first thing that hits you is this bold color palette: fiery orange against cool blue, figures rendered as smooth forms with stark shadows. There’s a real flatness to the surface, the paint applied with precision. Look at the hat floating there in the upper left, the smoke curling away. It’s like a thought bubble, a symbol that adds another layer to the traditional Madonna imagery. The faceless figures, are they about universal emotions or something more alienating? Kostabi definitely pulls from art history, but he’s also got this very contemporary, almost cartoonish sensibility. He makes you question everything you think you know about these iconic images. It's like De Chirico meets Philip Guston - unsettling and humorous all at once!