<i>Portia in a Pink Blouse</i>
Authors: Jeanette M. Smith
Journal: JAMA (2015)

Whether sketching a chichi cafe scene in the south ofFranceseaside,or turninghisbrush toNewYork opera buffs, for Guy Pene duBois (1884-1958) the drama of humanity was a source of delight. He pictured societal charades and people’s efforts to connect with poignancy andanoccasional touchof amusement.Healso chronicled the emerging status of women, who, having received the right to vote, moved forward into the frisson of the Jazz Age. Born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Henri Pene du Bois, a man of literary bent, Guy was named for French writer Guy de Maupassant. Enrolling in the New York School of Art in 1899, du Bois studied with William Merritt Chase, later receiving instruction from Robert Henri, who became part of The Eight, a group of realist artists who tended to portray the workaday world of the less privileged. Father and son journeyed to Europe in 1905, and in Paris Guy studied at the Atelier Colarossi. He also received private lessons from Theophile Steinlen, whose work included commentary on conditions in society. Guy absorbed the Parisian environs with ardor and found the cafes a convenient source of character studies. After the untimely death of his father in 1906 when sailing home to America, du Bois was obliged to launch a livelihood. He became a reporter for the newspaper New York American, his job to cover the police beat and, later, the music scene, the settings providing an interesting array of subjects for sketches and paintings in his artistic pursuits. He acquired considerable skill in conveying character in his pictures through body posture, an indication of attitude, and clothing, a signal of social rank. In 1911 he married Florence (“Floy”), who also had a sense of the sartorial with her work in designing clothes for children. He subsequently found work writing art criticism, including a 1913-1914 stint as assistant to art authority Royal Cortissoz at the New York Tribune. Teaching at the Art Students League and elsewhere was also part of his multifaceted life. He exhibited at the Armory Show of 1913, but alas, realism achieved less eclat than the exciting avant-garde. Although he initially followed The Eight’s artistic approach, he found his own path. He preferred to give emphasis to types instead of distinctive figures, and his work featured more fundamental forms. (Fahlman B. Guy Pene du Bois: Painter of Modern Life. New York, NY: Quantuck Lane Press; 2004:8-65.) Apropos of his style, in an essay by Cortissoz it is noted thusly: “ ... his truths are defined with great simplicity.” (Cortissoz R. Force JR, foreword. Guy Pene Du Bois. New York, NY/Whitefish, MT: Whitney Museum of American Art/Literary Licensing; 2013:8.) In 1924 du Bois boldly turned to full-on painting for a time, moving to France. An example of his work portraying the ambiance abroad is his energetic Bal des Quatre Arts (JAMA cover, February 10, 1993), in which participants cavort at a masquerade ball. A 1929 move to Nice provided splendid new scenery and subjects. There were again the cafes, but here they were shoreside against the luminous aquamarine Mediterranean pictured in his Grande Bleue, Nice. His daughter Yvonne felt this was the happiest year of their lives (Fahlman, p 40). Back in the States during Depression years, du Bois received several New Deal commissions for post officemurals (eg,http://livingnewdeal.org/projects/post-officemurals-saratoga-springs-ny/). He also authored an autobiography, Artists Say the Silliest Things. The proficiency of du Bois in portraiture can be seen in Portia in a Pink Blouse. A stylish woman sits alone at a table seemingly bored by her book (although indicated as its author), gazing away. A tiny tocque is a rakish topper to her elegant attire, and the veiling on her face confers a faint air of mystery. She seems reflective, perhaps mulling moments of regret. The rosy tones and organic floral element are inviting aspects of the scene, but the savoir-faire of the subject seems tinged with melancholy. Portia Lebrun was a commercial designer, and her artist ex-husband Rico is said to have studied with du Bois for a short time (Fahlman, p 57). By the time of the painting, the couple were no longer together. The fine clothes indicate affluence, but her expression suggests that happiness may be a more elusive goal. She may have achieved independence and material success, but perhaps remains unfree from the age-old matters of the heart. Beginning in the early 1940s, cardiac disease made du Bois’s work more challenging, and he mourned the loss of Floy in 1950. Perhaps to rekindle old joys, he and Yvonne traveled to France in 1953. His 1954 Cafe de Flore reflects how much the pulse of Paris pleased him. At his death in 1958, his longtime friend Edward Hopper wrote in condolence to Yvonne, “ ... I think he had a good and full life” (Fahlman, p 65). The paintings of his fellow travelers in life seem infused with the joie de vivre that du Bois savored as a participant in the pageantry of humanity. And if viewers look very closely at his figures, they may be startled by a shock of recognition in seeing someone who rather reminds them of themselves.