Guy Pène du Bois 1884-1958

Chester Dale Collection, New York
ACA Heritage Gallery, New York
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Malkin, 1967 (acquired from the above)
By descent to the present owners (their grandchildren)

New York, Kraushaar Galleries,  Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings by Guy Pène du Bois, March- April 1924, no. 17
New York, ACA Heritage Gallery, Recent Acquisitions, January-February 1968, no. 10, illustrated

Royal Cortissoz, "Guy Pène du Bois," 20th Century Americans-Spring Catalogue, no. 5

Lined; craquelure, under UV: fine lines of inpainting to address craquelure, particularly in lower register. A few spots of inpainting in orange dress and in background tree, and few other dots and dashes of retouching. Please note the additional provenance: Chester Dale Collection, New York ACA Heritage Gallery, New York Mr. and Mrs. Henry Malkin, 1967 (acquired from the above) By descent to the present owners (their grandchildren)
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The 'pouter pigeon,' as classified by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species, "has a much elongated body, wings, and legs; and its enormously developed crop, which it glories in inflating, may well excite astonishment and even laughter."  Virginia Woolf, in her novel The Voyage Out, a witty, social satire, which was published in the U.S. in 1920, appropriated this term for a certain type of preening and overly confident society woman. In 1922, Guy Pène du Bois, another artist of social satire, particularly adept at capturing the nuances of social interaction, and more specifically the complicated rapport between men and women, also borrowed the term to title the present work.

Pouter Pigeon, painted in 1922, captures a moment between a tuxedoed gentleman and two elegantly dressed women.  Tall trees rise in the background, suggesting the trio is just outside a party, talking privately in the garden.  While the dynamic between the three certainly leaves room for interpretation, du Bois has captured a snapshot of privilege.  Betsy Fahlman observes that du Bois's work of the period "had become more stylized, and he turned increasingly to the fashionable world of urban society for inspiration.  His forms became more simplified as he turned his figures into types, using their manners and the interactions of contemporary life to convey social commentary" (Guy Pène du Bois: Painter of Modern Life, 2004, p. 25).

 

Pouter Pigeon was in the collection of Chester Dale, one of du Bois most important and influential patrons. "As an artist, Guy Pène du Bois depended on the very people he portrayed in gallery settings for patronage, and his paintings began to be purchased by astute collectors with a strong interest in contemporary American art.  One of the largest collections of his work—more than twenty paintings—was formed by the wealthy investment banker Chester Dale, who with his wife, Maud Murray Thompson Dale, began to collect the artist's work after World War I....[du Bois] described [Dale] as 'my best patron.'  Dale had a good eye and purchased some of the artist's best early work, ranging in date from 1912-1928" (Guy Pène du Bois: Painter of Modern Life, p. 27).  Dale went on to donate the majority of his collection to American museums, securing du Bois' artistic legacy.