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Lot Essay
"At the beginning of our century the attitude of most American artists toward the native scene was either avoidance or idealization. The raw actualities of the United States, the life of most of the population, and that vital phenomenon the American city, were shunned by the academic artist who controlled the art world. Turning away from such vulgarities, they devoted themselves to the world of the upper and upper-middle classes, to the pleasant aspects of life in America, and to the idyllic in nature. Womankind played a large role in their art, but womankind idealized: the wife and mother in her sheltered home, the virgin untouched by life, the allegorical figure symbolizing all the virtues. The female nude was a favorite motif, but shown under definitely restricted conditions: the model in the studio, the nymph by the pool." (L. Goodrich, Reginald Marsh, New York, New York, 1972, p. 15)
Marsh was not afraid to show a darker side of humanity. In particular, he portrayed a more sensual side of the female form and did so in a very stylized way. "He drew and painted it with both thorough knowledge of its anatomy and sensual love of its forms and lines and rhythms. His favorite feminine types were not delicate and refined but fully developed and voluptuous, projecting a potent sexual aura. His young beauties, whether burlesque queens, dancehall hostesses, or debutantes, were not much individualized, differing little in features or shapes; they were types, embodiments of sex, the generic female. Never notable for marked character or visible intellect, they sometimes approached complete vacuousness. "(Reginald Marsh, pp. 37-38)
In Grande Finale, Marsh features a burlesque grand finale scene of scantily clad dancers and their props of knights in armor. As a freelance illustrator for several New York newspapers, Marsh was able to capture action in a scene and give the viewer a firsthand account of the events as they unfold. Grande Finale reveals Marsh's great ability to capture the atmosphere of a night's entertainment.
Marsh was not afraid to show a darker side of humanity. In particular, he portrayed a more sensual side of the female form and did so in a very stylized way. "He drew and painted it with both thorough knowledge of its anatomy and sensual love of its forms and lines and rhythms. His favorite feminine types were not delicate and refined but fully developed and voluptuous, projecting a potent sexual aura. His young beauties, whether burlesque queens, dancehall hostesses, or debutantes, were not much individualized, differing little in features or shapes; they were types, embodiments of sex, the generic female. Never notable for marked character or visible intellect, they sometimes approached complete vacuousness. "(Reginald Marsh, pp. 37-38)
In Grande Finale, Marsh features a burlesque grand finale scene of scantily clad dancers and their props of knights in armor. As a freelance illustrator for several New York newspapers, Marsh was able to capture action in a scene and give the viewer a firsthand account of the events as they unfold. Grande Finale reveals Marsh's great ability to capture the atmosphere of a night's entertainment.