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In his portrait of Reginald Marsh (1898–1954), Newman positioned his subject close to the picture plane with an artwork behind him. Marsh, a robust figure with a round face and thinning hair, tilts his head and looks out without engaging the camera or the viewer. His expression appears a bit wistful. Marsh has his arms crossed against his chest, and wears a rumpled striped shirt, loosened tie, and dark apron.
Marsh, who was the son of artists, was born in an apartment above a Parisian café. He graduated from the Yale Art School in 1920 and was passionate about the work of the old masters, especially Titian, Tintoretto, and above all, Peter Paul Rubens. Marsh became known for his bawdy and densely populated beach scenes at Coney Island and for his portrayals of New York nightspots renowned for their vaudeville and burlesque shows, as seen in Reynolda House Museum of American Art’s Gaiety Burlesk, 1930. His figures were usually full-bodied and his compositions oozed with energy, whether rendered in etching or tempera, his two preferred mediums.
The reproduction behind Marsh is of a painting by Rubens that depicts elegantly dressed women in a luxurious setting typical of the great Flemish master. The subject appears to be either allegorical or mythological: a small figure in the upper left, probably Cupid, appears to be aiming his arrows at the scene below. Instead of using one of Marsh’s own paintings, Newman employed the Rubens reproduction to place his subject in the context of art history, and in doing so, pays Marsh a great compliment.
Notes:
[1] Newman, quoted in Arnold Newman and Henry Geldzhaler, Artists Portraits from four Decades by Arnold Newman (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980), 13.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
DepartmentAmerican Art
Reginald Marsh
Artist
Arnold Newman
(1918 - 2006)
Subject
Reginald Marsh
(1898 - 1954)
Date1941
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsFrame: 17 1/4 x 14 1/4 in. (43.8 x 36.2 cm)
Image: 9 1/4 x 7 1/4 in. (23.5 x 18.4 cm)
Signed© Arnold Newman
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
CopyrightDue to rights restrictions this image can not be enlarged or viewed at full screen.
Object number1983.2.7
DescriptionWhile making his many photographs of artists, Arnold Newman often became close friends with his subjects, especially if they were in similar straitened circumstances. For example, not being able to find a place to live, Newman stayed for two years in an apartment belonging to Chaim and Mimi Gross. There, at Saturday gatherings, he encountered many artists who would become the subject of his Artists Look Like This series which helped to launch his career. “I found the artists—generally, at least—a warm exuberant bunch, differing from one to another as much as their works did. Their personalities and their faces often related to their art, and my photographs could show it.” [1]In his portrait of Reginald Marsh (1898–1954), Newman positioned his subject close to the picture plane with an artwork behind him. Marsh, a robust figure with a round face and thinning hair, tilts his head and looks out without engaging the camera or the viewer. His expression appears a bit wistful. Marsh has his arms crossed against his chest, and wears a rumpled striped shirt, loosened tie, and dark apron.
Marsh, who was the son of artists, was born in an apartment above a Parisian café. He graduated from the Yale Art School in 1920 and was passionate about the work of the old masters, especially Titian, Tintoretto, and above all, Peter Paul Rubens. Marsh became known for his bawdy and densely populated beach scenes at Coney Island and for his portrayals of New York nightspots renowned for their vaudeville and burlesque shows, as seen in Reynolda House Museum of American Art’s Gaiety Burlesk, 1930. His figures were usually full-bodied and his compositions oozed with energy, whether rendered in etching or tempera, his two preferred mediums.
The reproduction behind Marsh is of a painting by Rubens that depicts elegantly dressed women in a luxurious setting typical of the great Flemish master. The subject appears to be either allegorical or mythological: a small figure in the upper left, probably Cupid, appears to be aiming his arrows at the scene below. Instead of using one of Marsh’s own paintings, Newman employed the Rubens reproduction to place his subject in the context of art history, and in doing so, pays Marsh a great compliment.
Notes:
[1] Newman, quoted in Arnold Newman and Henry Geldzhaler, Artists Portraits from four Decades by Arnold Newman (Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1980), 13.
ProvenanceFrom 1983
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, purchased from Arnold Newman Studios, Inc., New York on January 21, 1983. [1]
Notes:
[1] Invoice, object file.
Exhibition History2006
Self/Image: Portraiture from Copley to Close
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC (8/30/2006 - 12/31/2006)
2019
Portraits of the Artists
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (2/1/2019-8/4/2019)
Published References
Status
Not on view