pour cher david by Jon Cutrell

Jon Cutrell. Detail of pour cher david, n.d. Oil on canvas. 40 x 30 in. Courtesy of David Cutrell.

A wolf-headed, human-bodied hunter on the prowl. A winding and sparse forest in brown, tan, and sienna hues, painted almost like fabric drapes. And a grim mantra in white lettering: "Enough to eat, enough to be stolen, and enough to rot on the ground.” The stoic look on the wolf-man’s face tells a tale: he is up to no good. He is fit, strong and hairless. A small bag hangs over his shoulder, by a loin cloth. He is mid-turn, an arm behind his back. What does he hide? Arranged like a poster, the image has additional text, an inner joke between two cousins (the artist and the collector). Now in French rather than English, a translation of the text reads: "for dear david - April 22, 1995 - Toronto - Society for the Preservation of Wild Culture.”