A Favorite Painting 11

Reginald Marsh, Twenty Cent Movie 1936

Marsh was a contemporary of Edward Hopper's, and at least superficially seemed drawn to similar subjects (namely, the modern urban landscape). But unlike Hopper, Marsh clearly emphasized the vitality, the vibrancy of his scenes, and populated them with the teeming masses (whereas Hopper could always identify the loneliest person in a crowd, or a secluded part of the city to focus on). This particular painting (which I saw at the Whitney Museum of Art) appeals to me for several reasons. One, as a movie fan I really like the depiction of a Depression era movie theater with the great posters hinting at all kinds of provocative wonders on the screen. I also like the jaunty demeanor of the guy in the tilted derby out front-- he seems completely in control of the situation, which is remarkable given that he's black amongst an otherwise all-white cast of characters. It speaks to a kind of self-confidence that was only possible in a place like New York at that time, and offers something of an antidote to the more common stories of oppression and segregation associated with that era. It also speaks to the persistence of the nation's ability to find some solace in the midst of hard times, if only for the evening out at a show. I tend to see paintings as artifacts of the time in which they were created, and though there are a lot of fine artists from that period, Marsh is the one whose work seems most emblematic of that decade to me.