A Merry Mashup

This amazing reverse painting on glass from the Pantages Portfolio is certain to turn more than a few heads! This dramatic image features a sculpture comprised of items from two categories... outdoor sports (including fox hunting, fishing, birding, and powder horns) and very feminine things (like a purse, pink scarf, lace, and boudoir accessories.) What is the artist trying to say here?

This visually stunning work is by French artist Fernand Renard (1912-1990) and is signed "Paris 1937." Little about the painter's personal life or influences has been documented. His works usually feature hyper-realistic still life images, including flowers, fruit, and shells. Professionally, Renard worked as a trompe l'oeil painter for the Paris based interior decorators Maison Jansen. This company was started in 1880 and was the first truly global design firms. Maison Jansen decorated the homes and offices of royal families, famous celebrities, and politicians - including some rooms in the White House during the JFK administration. Maison Jansen closed its doors in 1989, but the firm's furnishings and decorative items are still highly sought after at auction today.

Girl Power

It's easy to warm up to this fantastic watercolor painting of a woman in a fuzzy black hood. This headliner from the Pantages Portfolio was painted by Ludwig Bemelmans in Madrid in 1955. With just a few simple brush strokes and the bold use of color, he brings this stunning woman to life.

Ludwig Bemelmans (1898-1962) was born in what is now part of Italy. He came to the United States in 1917 and became a citizen a year later in 1918. He worked at hotels during the day and painted at night, but had minimal artistic success through the early 1930's. Bemelmans started working on children's books in 1934. His big success came in 1939 with the first Madeline book, published by Simon & Schuster. This book starred Madeline, a 7-year-old girl who attended boarding school in Paris. He would go on to write seven books in the Madeline series, the last published posthumously in 1999. The story's heroine was named after Bemelmans' wife, Madeleine "Mimi" Freund. Bemelmans' only work on display to the public is a mural he drew on the walls of the Bemelmans Bar, located in New York City's historic Carlyle Hotel.

The View From Here

Come take a look - the view is delightful! This could be said both about this three-panel hinged painting by Bernard Chaet, as well as the entire Pantages Portfolio! This work, accurately entitled "Panorama," is colorful and upbeat - and in a way has a "selfie" feel to it, given its perspective and angle.

American artist Bernard Chaet (1924-2012) is best known for his colorful, modernist figure and animal paintings. He taught for over four decades as a Professor of painting at Yale University in New Haven, CT; he was also chair of the school's art department. He won many awards over the course of his lifetime, including a Sabbatical Grant from the National Foundation of the Arts and Humanities, the Benjamin Altman Award in Painting from the National Academy of Fine Arts, and the Jimmy Ernst Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He was also named a National Academician by the National Academy of Design in 1994. Examples of Chaet's work can be found at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., among many others.

Fight Night

This oil on canvas scene by George Biddle is one heavy hitter. It pictures several boxers leaving the ring. You can just make out the silhouettes of the observers to the match in the forefront of the work. This powerful painting from 1956 is another highlight from the remarkable Pantages Portfolio being offered by The Plymouth Exchange in late September, 2018.

George Biddle (1885-1973) started out his career as a lawyer, but left the USA to study art in 1911 in Paris. He spent the next few years studying art across Europe and the USA. He enlisted as a soldier in WWI. Post war, he again traveled and painted extensively, including a 1928 sketching adventure with Diego Rivera in Mexico. In the 1930's he was instrumental in establishing the Federal Art Project - part of the WPA - through his longtime friendship with Franklin Roosevelt. He was appointed the chairman of the US Department of War's Art Advisory Committee during WWII. Biddle is best known for his thoughtful murals and combat related paintings.  These were featured at the 1939 New York World's Fair as well as pictured in Life Magazine. His most famous mural, a five panel fresco, appears in the 5th floor stairway the RFK Department of Justice Building in Washington, DC and is called Society Freed Through Justice. 

Dark and Stormy

Let's take a walk on the wild side with this great painting by Irene Rice Pereira. Titled "Into the Dark Night I Go," it features an abstract female form against a dark and fluid background. She fills almost the entire surface of the work with her strong, lanky, and curvaceous body. This is another highlight work from the Pantages Portfolio, and truly demonstrates the remarkable scope and range of this collection.

Irene Rice Pereira (1902 –1971) was an American born artist known for right angle geometric and modern figure painting. She began her formal art training in 1927 through night classes at the Art Students League in New York City. She continued her studies in Europe, starting in 1931. After returning to the US and a few years more at the Art Students League, she helped to start the the Design Laboratory, a cooperative school of industrial design established under the auspices of the WPA. There she taught painting, composition, and design synthesis. The Design Laboratory would later evolve into The Laboratory School of Industrial Design. Her work caught the eye of Peggy Guggenheim has been shown, or is part of the permanent collections at the ACA Galleries, The Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Gallery of Art, and many others.

Opposites Attract

Opposites sometimes attract, especially when it comes to fine art. And these two paintings by Theresa Bernstein truly exemplify that. The painting on the left features young women dancing in the park under moonlight. The painting on the right depicts a elderly woman bundled in a blanket reading. Both of these stunning works are from the Pantages Portfolio.

Theresa Bernstein was born in Poland in 1890 and came to the United States with her parents as a child. She was a student at the Philadelphia School of Design for Women and enrolled at the Art Students League in New York City. At the age of 22 she moved to Manhattan where she would live and paint for the rest of her life. She was a member National Association of Women Artists and the North Shore Art Association. Bernstein's paintings were exhibited nationally, including at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian. She created a mural for the Manheim, PA post office through a WPA grant in 1938. She passed away 17 days before her 112th birthday in 2002.

Overdrive

This painting is the wheel-deal indeed. Painted in 1926 by artist Saul Berman, it features a number of period automobiles lining a city street. You can even make out the spare tire on the rear of the car on the right. This "time capsule" cityscape is another fantastic highlight from the Pantages Portfolio.

Saul Berman (1899-1975) was born in Russia but moved to New York City with his parents as a child. He painted in the social realist style, with his works often including precise detailing. He studied art in New York at the Educational Alliance and the National Academy. In 1920, he received Honorable Mention at the Chicago Art Institute. Berman received commissions from the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930's for paintings as well as murals. Berman's works were featured in numerous exhibitions and events, including The Whitney Museum Annuals, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annuals, American Art Today, as well as the 1939 New York World's Fair.