Gender, Fashion, and Consumer Culture---> Woman on Sofa (1922-27)

What can clothes reflect?

A wearers age, gender, race or ethnicity, occupation and values

The adoption of new clothing or styles marks what?

Important historical moments

What is an example of new clothing styles or garments that marked a important historical moment

Trousers for women

Where was Guy Pene du Bois born?

Brooklyn New York

What year was Guy Pene du Bois born?

1884

Who was du Bois father?

Henri Pene du Bois

What job did Henri Pene du Bois hold?

A writer and art critic

Where was Henri Pene du Bois from?

Louisiana

What language did the family speak at home?

French

When did Guy Pene du Bois take up painting?

At the age of 15

Who did du Bois take lessons with?

William Merritt Chase and Ashcan painter Robert Henri

When was Pene du Bois first trip to Paris?

Around 1905

When did du Bois return to New York?

1906

Du Bois returned to New York following what event?

The death of his father

What did du Bois work as to support himself?

A journalist

When was du Bois first solo exhibition?

1918

Pene du Bois mostly lived where with his wife?

Westport Connecticut

What writers surrounded du Bois?

F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Sherwood Anderson

Pene du Bois recalled his time at Westport Connecticut as what?

Rather decent

When did du Bois relocate his family to Paris?

1924

Where did du Bois move after Paris?

The village of Garnes France

What years did du Bois work transatlantically?

1924-1930

Why did du Bois frequently return to the United States?

To exhibit and sell his works

What did du Bois become known for?

His images of Jazz Age spaces like cafes, art galleries, restaurants, and supper clubs

What close friend of du Bois was also interested in Jazz Age spaces?

Edward Hopper

In the 1930s what commissions did du Bois take on?

Artworks on government comissions

How many post office murals did du Bois create?

3

In what year was du Bois increasingly unable to work due to declining health?

The 1940’s

When did Pene du Bois pass away?

1958

What is Woman on Sofa a visual harmony of?

Tones of red

How could the positioning of the woman be described?

One arm on the back of the couch and the other draped over the armrests sits half reclined with her legs elegantly crossed

What do her feet show?

Red high-heeled shoes

What color is her hair?

Red

How can her hair be described?

Short, curly, red, and teased into a mushroom shape

What color are her eyes?

Green

Where do her green eyes look at the viewer from?

A slight shadow

What accents her face?

Bright red lips

Her lips almost match the color of what?

Her dress and hair

How can her dress be described?

INformal cowl-neck dress

What tones is her dress painted in?

Tones of coral pink to orage-red

What shape is her dress?

A boxy shape that hints at mid-calf

What does she wear around her neck?

A long string of beads that would reach down past her waist if she stood up

What background and what other object are almost the same color?

The couch

The details of the background and couch fall away enabling the viewer to do what?

Focus closely on the woman’s face, clothing, and pose

How can her facial expression be described?

Confident

Her styling is described as what?

Modern

Her confident facial expression and modern styling give what to the work?

Both intimacy and power

When did the notion of a liberated “New Woman” emerge?

The late nineteenth century

The New Woman emerged as women took advantage of what?

Education opportunities, and moved into public roles

What race and class did the early New Women belong to?

White, middle class

The New Women represented what?

The first wave of feminism

When did the first wave of feminism date to?

1870-1900

What did first wave feminists advocate for?

Voting rights, and women’s ability to work outside of the home

True or False, first wave feminists strayed away from conservative beliefs

False, many remained conservative in their belief in women’s roles as moral guides to the family and the nation

After the turn of the century what happened to women’s activism?

It grew more public

What women’s activism grew more public what was stressed upon more?

Independence, intelligence, and unconventionality

Art showing the new version of New Woman still focused on what demographic?

Rich European American women

The art showing New Women often showed the engaged in what physical pursuits?

Golf, tennis, and bicycling

New Women were depicted as what?

Chic and well dressed

What was the exemplar of the chic and well dressed New Woman?

The Gibson Girl

Who first imagined the Gibson Girl?

Commercial illustrator Charles Dana Gibson

What magazine did Charles Dana Gibson illustrate for?

Life

What year did Gibson illustrate for Life?

1860

Ashcan artists embraced what vision of the New Woman?

A more working class (though still white) version

The Ashcan vision of the New Woman did what?

Rode urban transportation, strolled with girlfriends in parks and downtown shopping streets, frequented cafes, lived on her own rather than with parents, and worked in factories or department stores

The 19th century New Woman ideal culminated with what?

The ratification of the 19th amendment

What did the 19th amendment do?

Guaranteed women’s suffrage in 1920

The Jazz Age version of the New Woman was more what?

Apolitical and carefree

In the 1920s what did the New Woman morph into?

The flapper

What were flappers imagined as?

Young, liberated women who wore the latest trends and frequented jazz clubs in big cities

What did the flappers style feature?

Shorter (tea length up to knee) skirts, un-corseted bodices, loose boxy silhouettes, long dangling necklaces, high heels, shorter haircuts, and makeup

The flapper identity was associates with what?

Youth culture and "social emancipation”

How was the idea of the flapper spread in popular culture?

Through fiction

What is an example of a piece of fiction that spread the flapper idea?

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

Who wrote Gentlemen Prefer Blondes?

Anita Loos

When was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes released?

1925

Who is the main character in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos?

Lorelei Lee

Lorelei Lee is the epitome of what?

A flapper

How is Lorelei the epitome of a flapper?

She is a gold-digging party girl

Where did Lorelei Lee move from?

The Midwest to New York

Cartoons from who showed a popular iteration of the flapper?

John Held Jr.’s cartoons and covers of Life magazine

In Held Jr.’s cartoons how was the flapper depicted?

As androgynous, angular, and boyish

Held’s cartoons maintained what same characteristic of the flapper?

The carefree demeanor

Held’s cartoons often depicted the flapper doing what?

Smoking, dancing, or drinking cocktails

True or False, the flapper was an elegant fantasy

True

Woman on Sofa represents what?

The new gender dynamic

The woman’s bold pose and direct gaze show her as what?

A powerful figure not needing to rely on a man to situate her

Where is the woman on the sofa shown?

A domestic interior

What identifies the woman sitting as a flapper?

Her hair, and clothes

The appearance of the woman on the sofa may have been taken from where?

du Bois friend F. Scott Fitzgerald

What did Fitzgerald write that perhaps inspired the sitters flaming red-orange hair color and bright makeup?

Gretchen’s Forty Winks character of a “Titian-haired girl, vivid as a French rag doll”

The painting may reference what?

The growing role of female patrons in the American art world

du Bois creates an almost mirror image of a well-known work by who?

Robert Henri

What is Robert Henri’s relation to du Bois?

He was his teacher

What work of Robert Henri’s does du Bois painting create a near mirror image of?

A daring portrait of the art collector Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1916)

True or False, Whitney could be considered a flapper

False, too early to be considered a flapper

What does Whitney embody?

The energy, openness, and daring glance of a liberated woman

How is du Bois and Robert Henris paintings similar?

They both recline on a sofa wearing an unconventional costume

What does Whitney wear?

Colorful pajama like ensemble, and loose turquoise trousers gathered at the ankles

Why was Whitneys husband embarrassed by the painting by Robert Henri?

He didn’t want his wife appearing “in pants”