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A lime wash on plaster painting of a woman standing in front of a building.

The painting, which has a soft, muted overall appearance, shows a woman standing in front of a building. The woman is wearing a white hat, a brown coat with a wide white collar and a blue dress with a draped bodice. She is clutching a bag in her left hand. She is looking to the right, both hands rest on her hips, her right foot is thrust slightly forward. The background is gray shaded with black. The foreground is a lighter gray washed with black.

Gallery Text

Reginald Marsh’s Depression-era work focuses on urban landscapes and everyday life in America; his subjects include burlesque performers, unemployed workers on the Bowery, and Coney Island beach scenes. He was particularly concerned with the exploitation of the nation’s millions of unemployed women and portrayed them as independent figures. This painting, executed in the mezzo-fresco technique Marsh first observed in old master paintings in Europe, is one of several he created before carrying out major mural commissions for Washington, DC’s Post Office Department Building (1936) and the Custom House in New York City (1936–37). Marsh studied with artists John Sloan and George Luks of the Ashcan school, which promoted a journalistic approach in depicting daily life in New York’s poor neighborhoods, and he was a notable contributor to the development of social realism.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1979.389
People
Reginald Marsh, American (Paris, France 1898 - 1954 Dorset, VT)
Title
Astor Hotel
Other Titles
Former Title: Portrait of a Woman in a Fur-Collared Coat
Former Title: Standing Woman in Fur-Collared Coat
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
1933
Places
Creation Place: North America, United States
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/211722

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1320, Modern and Contemporary Art, Social Realism
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Mezzo-fresco (lime wash on plaster)
Technique
Fresco painting
Dimensions
sight: 91.4 x 61.3 cm (36 x 24 1/8 in.)
framed: 95.6 x 65.4 x 4.5 cm (37 5/8 x 25 3/4 x 1 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: l.r.: Reginald Marsh 1933
  • inscription: On verso: Astor Hotel

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Reginald Marsh; to Felicia Meyer (Mrs. Reginald) Marsh, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1979.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Felicia Meyer Marsh (Mrs. Reginald Marsh)
Copyright
© Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Accession Year
1979
Object Number
1979.389
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Exhibition History

  • The Persistence of Memory: Continuity and Change in American Cultures, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/29/1995 - 05/13/2001
  • 32Q: 1320 Social Realism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 10/17/2024; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu