Philadelphia Museum of Art
On view through
September 3, 2018
It was so nice
to go to an exhibition in the middle of its run and not the last hours, and it
was so nice that it was the fabulous Modern Times show in Philadelphia curated
by Jessica Todd Smith.
 |
| George Biddle, Whoopee at Sloppy Jo's, 1933 |
This is a huge
area for one exhibition ranging from the Ashcan School, the earliest days of
Modernism, the Jazz Age, the urban scene of the New Deal era, right up to the
beginnings of Abstract Expressionism. Drawn from the Museum’s collection and
promised gifts, the show features Philadelphia’s role in the art of this period
and benefits from the many women and African-American artists included, with
both well known and totally new (to me at least) pieces: paintings, drawings,
lots of wonderful prints that add enormously to the show, photographs,
furniture, and costumes.
 |
| Ben Shahn, Nearly Everyone Reads the Bulletin, 1946 |
The exhibition
is organized thematically. In ‘Modern Life’ there were beach scenes and actual
1920s bathing suits, George Biddle’s Whoopee at Sloppy Jo’s, from 1933 –
the year Prohibition ended, and Ben Shahn’s Nearly Everyone Reads the
Bulletin, 1946. (The Bulletin was a Philadelphia newspaper but the
composition is based on a scene Shahn photographed in NY’s Washington Square
Park.) The wonderful pair, Arthur B. Davies’ Daphnes of the Ravine, 1922,
and Max Weber’s Group of Figures, 1911, left, as well as Marguerite
Zorach’s Girl and Cat, 1919, were in ‘The Animated Figure’ section.
 |
| Arthur B. Davies, Daphnes of the Ravine, 1922, and Max Weber, Group of Figures, 1911. |
Links to
gallery pages for Thomas, Hart Benton, George Biddle, Arthur B. Davies, Ben
Shahn, Max Weber, and Marguerite Zorach.
http://www.susantellergallery.com/cgi/STG_art.pl?artist=benton
http://www.susantellergallery.com/cgi/STG_art.pl?artist=biddle
http://www.susantellergallery.com/cgi/STG_art.pl?artist=shahn_ben
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#ArthurBDavies #BenShahn #MaxWeber #MargueriteZorach
Philadelphiamuseumofart,
Moderntimes, Jazzage, prohibition, newdeal, Thomashartbenton, GeorgeBiddle,
ArthurBDavies BenShahn, MaxWeber, MargueriteZorach
