Lot Essay
Cocktails, Five to Seven reveals Reginald Marsh's ability to suggest pointed social commentary within the context of a finely executed work of art. Marsh painted this watercolor in 1940, during a period when the artist was creating many of his finest works. The painting depicts a frenzied cocktail party in the apartment of a prominent art collector, whose friends and acquaintances, critics, painters and actors pack the apartment.
Marsh has included a wide variety of personalities in the composition. High-society ladies mingle with more bawdy types in risqué outfits. An attractive waitress, who has caught the eye of numerous guests, passes a silver tray filled with cocktails. Above the din created by the party presides a formidable collection of modern paintings by twentieth-century masters such as Picasso, whose work is seen on the right-hand side of the compostion.
The setting and the art-going crowd in Cocktails, Five to Seven are fitting subjects for an artist who was familiar with the high-brow world associated with collectors, critics and artists, and who at the same time enjoyed gently mocking them.
Marsh has included a wide variety of personalities in the composition. High-society ladies mingle with more bawdy types in risqué outfits. An attractive waitress, who has caught the eye of numerous guests, passes a silver tray filled with cocktails. Above the din created by the party presides a formidable collection of modern paintings by twentieth-century masters such as Picasso, whose work is seen on the right-hand side of the compostion.
The setting and the art-going crowd in Cocktails, Five to Seven are fitting subjects for an artist who was familiar with the high-brow world associated with collectors, critics and artists, and who at the same time enjoyed gently mocking them.