Kraushaar Galleries, New York, by 1943
James Graham & Sons, New York
Private Collection, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above, circa 1978

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Catalogue of the 131st Annual Exhibition, January-March 1936, no. 87 (as The Crowd)
San Francisco, California, de Young Memorial Museum, Meet the Artist: An Exhibition of Self-Portraits by Living American Artists, 1943, no. 52, p. 47, illustrated

Henry Salpeter, "High Life in the Garrett," Esquire, vol. 6, no. 5, November 1936, p. 122

Very good condition. Unlined. Under UV: one small spot of inpainting upper left corner. Two small loses in white railing in upper right.
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Guy Pène du Bois’ sharp observations of contemporary life brilliantly suggest the complex and occasionally humorous nature of social exchanges. As a dutiful student of Robert Henri, Pène du Bois painted in the realist tradition established by The Eight, often focusing on men and women in urban surroundings and forums of popular entertainment. His work, however, is somewhat difficult to definitively categorize within a specific aesthetic movement, as he absorbed the formal techniques of numerous major aesthetic movements while living in Paris from 1924 to 1930.

Pène du Bois returned home to America in April 1930 to find the character of New York City greatly transformed: “It took me a long time to get under the skin of my own people” he recalled (quoted in Guy Pène du Bois: The Twenties at Home and Abroad, Wilkes-Bare, Pennsylvania, 1995, n.p.). Perhaps instigated by the drastic change in his environment, the works he produced throughout the 1930s displays a stylistic evolution that earned the artist great critical and popular recognition. Although he continued to explore his characteristic themes, his painting achieved new breadth: his canvases became larger and his figural elements stronger. He also experimented with unusual spatial arrangements, creating complex compositions that reveal his comprehensive understanding of pictorial organization. Pène du Bois thus exhibited widely throughout the decade. Executed in 1934, The Crowd exemplifies this stylistic evolution, and stands as a classic example of the artist’s distinct𓆉ive vision of modern life.

The Crowd captures a moment of intense activity as a throng of people gathered in a large amphitheater. In the midst of this lively and complex compositional endeavor, he depicts himself, hands in his pockets, in in the center of the composition. The presence of uniformed police officers maintaining order further suggests the dynamism of the event, although the precise setting—as in much of the artist’s work at this time—remains intentionally ambiguous. Pène du Bois applies an innovative spatial perspective that suggests the viewer will descend the stairs to join the crowd himself yet the unusual vantage point denies thꦐe viewer a complete picture of the space. This environment and its diverse cast of characters are intriguingly mysterious, and suggest Pène du Bois’ awareness of the Surrealist movement concurrently flourishing overseas.

The undetermined light source that permeates the canvas with an eerie glow immediately evokes the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Edgar Degas and other late 19^th century painters fascinated by scenes of modern urban living. The vibrantly saturated palette, however, which typifies Pène du Bois’ work in this decade, reveals his admiration for the Impressionist master, Pierre Auguste Renoir, as does the expressive rendering of the faceless crowd. The more solidly realized figures of the foreground, however, are characteristic of the artist’s work in this period, and the wide range of brushwork t📖he canvas exhibits reveals the great exte🎶nt of the artist’s painterly abilities.

As is typical of his oeuvre, the painting is not without social or personal commentary. The figures Pène du Bois depicts in the foreground are meant to represent the upper bourgeoisie, stylish mannequins with no obvious distinguishing characteristics. But his own place in the composition—and role in the scene—remains unclear. Because Pène du Bois never attained the economic means of the subjects he commonly depicted, his images are more those of an observer than those of an engaged participant. This reality is never more evident than in The Crowd. He depicts himself in the middle of the composition yet he appears contemplative and somewhat isolated from activity occurring around him, evoking the lonely tension evident in the work of ℱhis friend, Edward Hopper.