You'll have to click on these pictures because the small size doesn't do them justice. Even when enlarged they'll still be too small. There's nothing for it but to buy the book ( out-of-print) : "Cecil C. Bell" by Phyllis Barton.Bell was a Depression-era "ash can" painter like Reginald Marsh or John Sloane. He clearly loved New York: the El, the ferries, the sidewalk fruit stands.
He's also one of America's greatest erotic artists. The sensuality of some of his subjects - always fully clothed and in public - seemed to echo the sensuality of the physical city all around them. He seemed to see the city as a labor of love by the people who built it.
He was great at mood pieces. It must have been wonderful to go to the city acquarium and take in all the big ugly fish, the institutional green walls and unvarnished wooden floors, the enthusiastic kids and the heroic mothers who tended them
These are so American... thank you for posting these blogs. I feel I'm having light shed on my picture-brain from a new angle.
ReplyDeleteI was familiar with Reginald Marsh but not Cecil C. Bell and the Ashcan "school" as a particular style. It nicely documents NYC during the Depression - in the same way that Berenice Abbot's photos do, but as illustrations takes the edge off the dispair of the times.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why, but for some reason, the last painting in particular brought up the association of Frank Tashlin, in particular, his live action work. It must be something about the colors, and the general architecture, even if realized as a set, and the way it is captured in Technicolor, institutional green with worn hardwood floors, lively crowd scenes, the way it is lit. the dimensionality of it all. Allthough it may have been painted before the fifties, it seemed very fifties to me. Or forties.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the small picture (TV) was not ingrained into filmakers too much at the time... they still often favored medium to long shots to close ups. You might actually see an actors legs throughout an entire scene.
The middle one looks like it was influenced by Paul Georges, or maybe the other way around. Were these done in oil washes or in gouache? From the opacity, they seem more like gouache.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful to see the world through this man's eyes.
ReplyDeleteEddie- So good to see you last night, thanks for driving out twice!.
All content Copyright Eddid Fitzgerald 2006!
I love the way the city is laid out in the middle one. Everything seems to fit together in unnatural angles like a jigsaw puzzle. Yet it works as a whole and nothing seems out of place.
ReplyDeleteSome of the best painters did their best work during the Depression. I think it's interesting how an artist can take the bitterness out of real life and make it somehow beautiful, even during the most depressing of times.
ReplyDeleteI have a theory that you need to live life to make make art. The proof is in these paintings.
Daniel: I like the jigsaw analogy!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: They're all in oil on board! I wonder what "board" means: masonite? wood?
Matt: It was great to see you! You got a great compliment on this trip. John T. really thought you'd make a good James Bond!
he looks more a "gag" cartoonist for a mens mag to me
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