A Paramount Picture

1934

Reginald Marsh

(American, born France, 1898–1954)

Culture

America

Medium

tempera on Masonite

Measurements

Framed: 107.3 x 86.4 x 4.5 cm (42 1/4 x 34 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 90.8 x 70.5 cm (35 3/4 x 27 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund 2006.137

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

226B American Modern

Did You Know?

Marsh kept meticulous records, indicating that he created this painting between September 5–24, 1934.

Description

Contrasting the real lives of everyday people with the reel lives of movie stars, this painting portrays a working-class woman standing by a Times Square theater in front of a large poster advertising Cecil B. DeMille’s blockbuster movie Cleopatra, starring Claudette Colbert in the title role. Enormously popular, such film spectacles offered escapist glamour, romance, and power amid the challenges of the Great Depression. Yet, despite the distraction of the city and its entertainments, the woman remains weary and essentially alone in the crowd.