07 Transatlantic Object Labels

Stuart Davis (United States, 1892–1964) New York-Paris, No. 2, 1931 Oil on canvas Portland Museum of Art, Maine. Hamilton Easter Field Art Foundation Collection, Gift of the Barn Gallery Associates, Inc., Ogunquit, Maine Stuart Davis (United States, 1892–1964) New York-Paris, No.1, 1931 Oil on canvas University of Iowa Museum of Art, Museum purchase In its transatlantic theme, New York–Paris, No. 1 expresses the allure and centrality of ocean liner travel between Le Havre, France, and New York. A visual bric-a-brac of elements, the painting incorporates some of the bold new design elements in 1920s advertising such as loud colors, exaggerated shapes, and hard outlines. Using a modern vocabulary, the artist cleverly mixed images from both sides of the Atlantic. In the lower right, there is the typical French café with sidewalk seating. The oversized can-can dancer’s leg could be a French shop sign, but also a reference to the famous dance halls in Paris. The Chrysler Building, a landmark New York skyscraper, opened in 1931, the year of this painting, and its distinctive crown is included in the upper right. The United States are referenced by the blue industrial building and red tobacco pouch in the center. A lively jumble of animated forms relays the excitement artists felt about FrenchAmerican travel and artistic exchanges. Félix Delmarle (France, 1889-1952) The Port, 1914 Oil on canvas Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Promised gift of James and Ilene Nathan Charles Demuth (United States, 1883–1935) Paquebot "Paris", about 1921–22 Oil on canvas Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Gift of Ferdinand Howald

Demuth was an American artist who believed that engineering and streamlined design epitomized the modern age. Along with others, he located modern beauty in the ocean liner, the skyscraper, and the factory. He made this painting upon returning from Europe in 1921 on the liner Paquebot “Paris.” Using a clean, precisionist style, he depicted the ship’s functional structures—gleaming funnels, tall smoke stacks, and sturdy railings—reveling in their basic geometries. Charles Demuth (United States, 1883–1935) Study for Paquebot "Paris", about 1921–22 Graphite on Paquebot "Paris" stationery Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. William R. Hill in memory of Richard Weyand Demuth returned from Paris on board a November 1921 sailing of the vessel Paquetbot “Paris”. He made at least five sketches for his later painting, and this one—on ship stationary—is his most finished. Demuth creates a strong geometric and abstracted pattern that conveys his admiration of the gleaming machinery on the ship’s upper deck. Paquebot “Paris” Postcard, National Museum of American History, Victor Blenkle Postcard Collection, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Charles Demuth conceived his painting Paquebot “Paris” while aboard this ocean liner in 1921. Albert Gleizes (France, 1881–1953) Port of New York, 1916 Wash and white gouache on paper Collection of Barry Friedman Ltd., New York Albert Gleizes lived in New York in 1916. A French cubist looking for the most modern of subjects, he was bedazzled by Broadway, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the rush and energy of crowds. He called the city’s skyscrapers “works of art . . . which equal the most admired old world creations.” Port of New York is one of a host of works Gleizes made that year, and it demonstrates the city’s powerful hold on the foreigner.

George Grosz (United States, born Germany, 1893–1959) Broadway, 1934 Watercolor San Diego Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Norton S. Walbridge Fernand Léger (France, 1881–1955) Man with Hat, 1920 Oil on canvas The Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Cary Ross The French painter Fernand Léger took part in a wave of enthusiastic Americanisme in Paris in the 1910s and 1920s. In this generalized portrait, he featured an urban man with a fashionable bowler hat set against an American flag and a cityscape. Though he had not yet met the American expatriate, Gerald Murphy, the portrait bears an uncanny likeness to Murphy’s dapper dress and mannerisms. Gerald and his wife Sarah—the couple after whom F. Scott Fitzgerald modeled his 1934 novel Tender is the Night—were chic, cosmopolitan, wealthy, and charming. They became two of Leger’s closest friends. Man with Hat is Léger’s tribute to American elegance and confidence, the very qualities he enjoyed in his friendship with Murphy. Jacques Mauny (France, 1893–1962) New York, 1925 Oil on canvas Philadelphia Museum of Art, A.E. Gallatin Collection A Czech painter who lived in Paris, Mauny was one of many European artists who visited New York in the 1920s. He also wrote about American modern art for the Parisian press and praised qualities in American life he considered modern to the core. In this painting, he montages several features of the Manhattan scene that Europeans found characteristically American and up-to-date: tall buildings, bold advertising, baseball games, and confident, stylishly dressed couples. Bernard Boutet de Monvel (France, 1884–1949) Factory (Usine), about 1929 Oil on canvas Collection of Mary Rossick Kern and Jerome H. Kern