Artwork Page for Dancing Sailors

Details / Information for Dancing Sailors

Dancing Sailors

1917

Charles Demuth

(American, 1883–1935)
Culture
America
Medium
watercolor over graphite
Support
Cream(2) wove paper, laid down on gray board
Measurements
Sheet: 20.4 x 25.7 cm (8 1/16 x 10 1/8 in.); Secondary Support: 21.4 x 26.3 cm (8 7/16 x 10 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund 1980.9
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

This drawing was exhibited only once during the artist's lifetime, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York—notable since he otherwise did not show them publicly.

Description

This drawing was inspired by Charles Demuth's participation in the nightlife of New York's Greenwich Village during the early 20th century. Around this time, the artist made numerous watercolors of nightclubs, performers, and bathhouses. Demuth created two almost identical compositions (the other is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York), which both show groups of three couples, with two sailors dancing together while others dance with women. Demuth kept these and other homoerotic watercolors private throughout his career, and almost never showed them publicly. The sheet's planes of textured watercolor blur figure and background, presenting a subtle but pointedly erotic scene.
A horizontally oriented watercolor painting depicts three couples dancing, each pair with their arms around each other. Four of the six people are sailors, dressed in blue uniforms with their backs to us. The couple in the middle are both sailors.

Dancing Sailors

1917

Charles Demuth

(American, 1883–1935)
America

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