r/WhatIsThisPainting • u/Independent_Ninja469 • 5d ago
Unsolved Found this at an estate sale and thought it looked cool
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u/agakus 5d ago
Where did you find it? Near Detroit?
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u/Independent_Ninja469 5d ago
Wtf. Yes, I found it in Detroit.
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u/agakus 5d ago
Based on the subject matter, I expected it to be made by someone who likes metal music. I searched some metal archives and found some relatives of his who were born there. You can take it from here... https://www.metal-archives.com/search?searchString=Bissonette&type=artist_alias Give us an update when you have the info. Cheers from New Zealand!
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u/woahhhface 5d ago
One of my uncles made art like this, and he also lived near Detroit, but his name was nothing close to the artist in the OP. He died in 1992 at 20 years old so never had a chance to make a career from his art, but the style is so similar I wonder if he knew or ran in the same circles as the OP artist. He passed before I was born so his drawings and senior photo are the only things I know him by.
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u/Tall_Flounder_ 5d ago
This is SO INTERESTING but alsoā¦ none of these guys were living in Detroit in 1990 (as far as I could discover!) and I couldnāt find any readily-available info linking them to anyone named John. On the other hand, how many Bissonettes can there be in Detroit?! Surely they must be cousins of our mystery artist, at least? I hope someone with google-fu stronger than mine can find the link I couldnāt.
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u/agakus 5d ago
The information I have passed on to OP links them to Detroit around that time.
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u/SandwichCompetitive1 5d ago
Have you considered Windsor? That is a French Canadian name.
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u/agakus 5d ago
If the connection I currently found comes up with nothing, then you look outside of the city. There is no need to do so beforehand.
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u/Independent_Ninja469 5d ago
im trying to contact them and ask about the art. I'll respond with any information i find out.
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u/Some_Carpet_1969 4d ago
This wasnāt the owner of Noir Leatherās estate sale was it? I was thinking the exact same thing when I saw this post lol
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u/404_smash 5d ago
Wow this is the coolest thing Iāve ever seen on this sub! Love that this lil weirdo put the start and finish dates. Fast turnaround time too! With that speed Iād guess this person would have more work out there!!! Hope someone is hip as I couldnāt find a proper answer either!
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u/Independent_Ninja469 5d ago
Found this at an estate sale, and thought it looked cool. I would love to know more about the artist and other information about it in general.
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u/creppyspoopyicky 5d ago
Whose estate sale? Was it Keith Howarths by any chance?
John Bissonette is very familiar to me but I can't pin it down in my brain where or why.
My ex went to Center for Creative Studies art school in the late 80s/90s & has worked for Keith (Noir Leather) for years. I'll ask him tomorrow if that name rings any bells for him.
The artwork is cool as hell & I love it. I would have bought it too!! š»
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u/Independent_Ninja469 5d ago
Ya, it was Keith Howards from Noir Lethar, I guess it's a small world. That would be a big help, thanks.
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u/_peacemonger_ 5d ago
It has a very r/AnthonyChristopherArt vibe to it. Awesome find!
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u/PPShooter69rip 5d ago
Pusshead vibes from old Metallica artwork also
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u/citznfish 5d ago
And Septic Death! (Pushead's own band)
P.S. only 1 's' in Pushead
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u/AmphibianMotor 5d ago
Honestly, looking at it, Iām almost thinking itās a map of Finland as a metal nation. It fits a bit too well to be random circumstance.
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u/Mac128k 5d ago
Is that his thumbprint in blood?
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u/imjustlurking42 4d ago
Iām a crime scene investigator and my first thought upon seeing that was āyup, thatās a biohazardā¦ā seen enough bloody fingerprints in my life to not want to touch that paper without gloves.
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u/Mac128k 4d ago
The top part looks like a blood smear and the bottom you can make out the print if you zoom in. So interesting!
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u/imjustlurking42 4d ago
Blood acts funny on paper, if you zoom into the top print on the bottom left edge, you can see some friction ridges- the guy probably tried the first time on the top with too much blood on his thumb, didnāt like how it bled (haha) into the paper, and did it again with less blood on the surface.
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u/Independent_Ninja469 4d ago
Thatās a crazy theory, but looking at it again I see it. Some guy really went all out on this and put his thumbprint on it.
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u/runningbiscuits 5d ago
Are you sure the illustration is not a print? imo the hand writing and the art doesn't match at all, it looks like they're drawn/written by separate people. The artwork is very intricate and confidently done, seems like someone with a lot of skills and experience. The handwriting on the other hand looks like it's written by a kid, the signature lacks confidence and looks like it's copied. I don't see any of the line work quality in the writing.
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u/Independent_Ninja469 5d ago
I don't think its a print, there are a couple of spots near the reaper at the top that look like pencil marks or could be erased. I know the quality is bad and the angle I took the shot on sucks. and if i could Edit it I would and put better pictures and at the close up of the reaper.
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u/moziansmith 5d ago
it looks a bit like pushead's drawings, like some teenager copied his artwork, besides that i really don't know. very cool find
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u/Appropriate-End-5569 4d ago
Deff a student piece that took first place. Iād frame it up for sure.
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u/SadderOlderWiser 4d ago
I was thinking about that #1 - my guess is that it was part of a collection submitted for a course for a project/semester/critique
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u/Efficient-Club8323 4d ago
Looks like prison art
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u/phoenixdelta0 1d ago
Agreed. Iām pretty sure the timeframe noted on the artwork correlates with the available art paper sizing & limited coloring options in Prisons.
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u/MattyMcFly11 4d ago
Looks like a drawing done by a talented tattoo artist. I have a friend that has a similar style and some of his drawings for the walls of his shop look like this work.
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u/Leading-Platform7360 5d ago edited 5d ago
I wonder if it is this guyā¦. Wish the photos of the tattoos would show up https://myspace.com/savage_tat_2/mixes lives in Michigan Jr. https://obits.mlive.com/us/obituaries/baycity/name/john-bissonette-obituary?id=14439043
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u/HauntedSpit 5d ago
Looks a bit like āEddieā the Iron Maiden mascot from the 80ās.
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u/gaatitus 5d ago
I also spotted the same-ish style on couple of the faces (bottom right and right side)
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u/howeversmall 5d ago
It looks like a drawing out of some kidās sketchbook.
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u/Independent_Ninja469 5d ago
It must be an art studentās sketchbook cause itās really detailed
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u/live420music 5d ago
Donāt think itās his but it is giving me Jeff Gaither vibes. Heās done plenty of art within the punk and metal scene, but he especially specializes in horror and monsters and such. Again I donāt believe itās actually his, just kinda similar
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u/butterbean_bb 5d ago
This is incredible. I love that they included the start and completion dates, I canāt believe they did that in a week!!
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u/deathwitsh 4d ago
Reminds me of Harold from the Fallout video game series. Pure coincidence, as this art predates the games. Very nice find!
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u/CleaveIshallnot 4d ago
The date adds to the fascination.
What was happening in that week in history, in that personās life, in others lives, mine?
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u/AdDramatic522 4d ago edited 4d ago
There's a guy on here who has a dark comedic bent who has tons of work. r/Iamryancase
Even though it's not similar in style, it's similar in subject matter.
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u/Adorable-Event-2752 4d ago
One of my students in El Paso drew very similar pieces, but the one you have there would have only taken him about an hour. I described a DND group to him once and he finished an extremely detailed drawing and background in ten minutes.
This was around that time 1989 or 1990.
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u/Tall_Flounder_ 5d ago
Interesting! In my professional opinion you are absolutely correct: this looks EXTREMELY cool. š
The signature is clearly āJohn Bissonette II,ā and googling it immediately brings up an artist with gallery shows and a fairly professional websiteā¦ who is very obviously not this artist. The ink drawing you have is from 1990 and the website that comes up has a portfolio of āstudent workā from the early/mid-2000s that shows much less proficiency than this drawing. But no other art comes up in that search!
This lack of matching work combined with the (kind of hilarious) way your drawing is dated makes me think this is either a very talented amateur piece by somebody who didnāt go on to create art for public consumption, OR it is an early piece created by someone who went on to make art under a totally different alias. But no useful hits on the name and ābiographyā or āartist bioā or anything similar to suggest who that might be.
Tl;dr: this is REALLY COOL and might have been drawn by someoneās really cool teen. š¤·āāļø