The Yellow Fan
Artist
Alexander Brook
(American, 1898 - 1980)
Date1930
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsFramed: 35 3/4 × 41 3/4 × 2 1/2in. (90.8 × 106 × 6.4cm)
Overall: 35 3/4 × 41 5/8 × 2 5/8in. (90.8 × 105.7 × 6.7cm)
Overall: 35 3/4 × 41 5/8 × 2 5/8in. (90.8 × 105.7 × 6.7cm)
ClassificationsPAINTINGS
Credit LineEdward W. Root Bequest
Terms
Object number57.88
Description On View
Not on viewCollections
CopyrightPresumed copyright: the artist or the artist's representative/heir(s).
Label TextIn 1930, Brook won second prize for a painting he exhibited in the Carnegie Institute’s International Exhibition of Modern Painting. (Pablo Picasso [1881-1973] was awarded first place in the same exhibition!) In this work Brook dramatized the personal characteristics of the model, his wife Peggy Bacon (1895-1987), instead of merely making the picture an accurate depiction of mass, space, and depth. The background of the work, specifically the corner of the room, is not as defined as Bacon’s physical attributes, and it lacks the darker colors and shadows that typically delineate the depths of a painting. Instead, Brook focused attention on Bacon’s hair and eyes by making them more saturated in color than the rest of the painting. In doing so, he established a sensual connection between himself and Bacon that otherwise might not exist had the subject been a typical studio model. Edward Root once noted that while this painting may be “lacking in atmosphere in the darker areas,” it is still “romantic in its tenderness.”
Katerina Adair
Hamilton College 2007 Intern
