The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 26, 2024

1931 Coupe

1931 Coupe

1931
(American, 1898–1954)
America, 20th century
Watercolor over graphite
Sheet: 35.4 x 50.7 cm (13 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.)
Bequest of Felicia Meyer Marsh 1979.66
© Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Marsh had a long-standing interest in transportation, seen throughout even his childhood drawings.

Description

Although he was best known for depictions of New York City, Reginald Marsh also had a lasting interest in transportation and industry, including trains, bridges, and factories. In many of these works, he focused on the dominating physical presence of machines. This drawing depicts a luxury car—a custom-bodied Model G close-coupled sports coupe made by the elite auto maker duPont. Fewer than 600 of the cars were made. Marsh worked in watercolor but used a drier brush to paint the car's tires so that the white of the paper shows through in tiny spots and contrasts with the smoothly painted metal elements. Made at the height of the Great Depression, a time during which many specialized auto manufacturers went out of business, the artist may have intended to suggest the demise of such extravagances.
  • 1931-1954
    Estate of the artist [1898-1954], New York, NY
    1954-1978
    Felicia Meyer Marsh [1912-1978] (artist's wife, through Norman Sasowsky), given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1979-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1979." Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 67, no. 3 (March 1980): 58-97. Mentioned: p. 97, no 74
    DeGrazia, Diane, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Exh. Cat. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 256-257, p. 297; Reproduced: p. 257
  • Life is a Highway: American Car Culture. The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH (organizer) (June 15-September 15, 2019).
    Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
    Year in Review: 1979. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-March 9, 1980).
  • {{cite web|title=1931 Coupe|url=false|author=Reginald Marsh|year=1931|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1979.66