Cfo 

Lucia Heffernan created this oil painting, titled "CFO," sometime after her birth in 1966. The painting's humor depends on a kind of surrealism, one that can also be found in the visual strategies of advertising. Here, a dog performs the culturally specific role of a Chief Financial Officer. The image suggests a playful commentary on corporate culture and its potential absurdities. American culture has long been fascinated by the idea of animals acting like humans, a concept that has been explored in cartoons, movies, and literature. Heffernan's painting taps into this tradition, using it to satirize the often-rigid and hierarchical world of business. One might consider how the artist uses the animal form to both critique and humanize the corporate world. As art historians, we can analyze this work through various lenses, researching the history of corporate culture, the representation of animals in art, and the use of humor as a form of social commentary. The meaning of this work is inseparable from its cultural and institutional context.