“Lucky Daredevils (The Thrill of Death),” 1931, by Reginald Marsh is shown. Image provided, courtesy of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.

By Darla McCammon
and DeeAnna Muraski
Guest Columnists

WARSAW — Continuing our series on American Art, we observe an artist who had a non-traditional beginning. The other artists we have discussed in this series sojourned in Paris later in life. But our artist, Reginald Marsh, was born 1898 in Paris and then came to America.

Marsh came from several generations of wealth and parents who were both experienced, notable artists. Due to their financial situation, the family was able to experiment creating art without worry of expectations that art would support their livelihood. In 1916, Marsh was sent to the coveted, difficult-to-get-accepted-into Yale University’s Art School. He started creating illustrations and cartoons for the New York Daily News and later, in 1925, for the famous New Yorker magazine. As part of his studies, he went back to Paris as a young adult and experienced a tumultuous art scene seeking an identity. Like several of the other artists mentioned in this series — Robert Henri, Mary Cassatt and William Harnett — he also gravitated toward realism.

Impressionism and realism were very controversial at this time. These were eschewed for more traditional compositions of stiff stilted staged portraits with smooth brushstrokes, little coloring and dark shadows. Marsh’s penchant for realism was not the only controversy he would experience in his life. There were rumors of his communist sympathies and artistic depictions of banned burlesque shows. Yet, he bucked all of these and continued to promote his social realism representations.

Since living through the Great Depression (1929-1939), starting with the stock market crash, he experienced and saw the societal disparity. During this time, he lost his brother, mother and grandfather. Thus, he personally felt the fear, saw the distraught and heard the sounds of despair. But true to the resiliency of the American spirit and positive mentality, society started bouncing back. Marsh was motivated to showcase this alternative, more positive view on his canvas.

Being an introvert, Marsh liked to take his sketch pad and make quick drawings of the noisy livelihood in the streets he quietly observed. He would then take those composite sketches back to his studio to create his masterpieces. Marsh was gifted at creating a bubbling city scene coming to life on a static canvas. He helps the viewer feel the electric musical heartbeat of the city, see the hot steam billowing from the factories, the closeness of the people intentionally crammed together and the palpable colors floating “apsidaly” around the confined corners of the canvas.

Starting in 1934, Marsh was able to observe a different set of population when he taught at the Art Students League. The league was formed from artists to teach other artists, and women were allowed to join. He continued teaching there until his death. He also taught until 1949 at the Moore Institute of Art, Science and Industry, in Philadelphia.

After surviving World War II, Marsh passed away in 1954 when only 56 years old. Marsh created artistic time capsules of a snapshot in our American history, visually depicting our metamorphosis from dismal depression to hope. A wonderful reminder of the American spirit.

Events

Warsaw City Hall: A new exhibitor will start next week. Check the column for the artist’s biography.

Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields: The Lume features “Dali Alive” starting Sunday, March 3. These immersive art experiences are floor-to-ceiling, digitally reimagined paintings. Between the two Lume exhibit halls is a café that will be featuring Spanish-influenced cocktails, coffees and pastries during the “Dali Alive” exhibit.

Darla McCammon is an artist, columnist and author. DeeAnna Muraski is executive director of Operation Read USA Inc. Send an email to the mother/daughter team at either [email protected] or [email protected].