A Song

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A Song

United States, before 1926
Paintings
Oil on canvas
Canvas: 56 × 45 7/8 in. (142.24 × 116.52 cm) Frame: 65 5/8 × 46 in. (166.69 × 116.84 cm)
Gift of Irving Mills (M.80.142.1)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

Although Brackman later became the bête noir of the modernists, he apparently had trouble placing his works in national exhibitions during the early 1920s: "The academicians found me too modern and th...
Although Brackman later became the bête noir of the modernists, he apparently had trouble placing his works in national exhibitions during the early 1920s: "The academicians found me too modern and the moderns, too academic," he recalled in an interview in 1961. Indeed, the modernist elements found in A Song continued to influence his art even after his study of the Renaissance masters had led him toward a very deliberate classicism. As a young man he had admired the styles of Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919), Claude Monet (1840-1926), Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), and other French painters. His overriding interest in the effects of light and color-which was derived from the impressionists and proved to be the foundation of his technique as a painter -- can be readily detected in A Song. From the works of Cézanne, whom he acknowledged as the source for his lifelong enthusiasm for still life, Brackman derived the use of rich color for modeling, faceted forms, tilted tabletops, and a balance of two-dimensional and threedimensional elements. With its strong color, disorienting perspective, and boisterous energy, A Song reflects these influences more directly than his better known, more classical works. The singer’s shirt and the samovar may refer to the artist’s Russian origins, but because of the singer’s expression and the angle of his face it is difficult to determine whether the painting was intended as a self-portrait. The combination of a seminude figure with a still life in a studio setting was to become a familiar Brackman theme. A Song was one of numerous paintings by Brackman owned by the music publisher Irving Mills, an early patron. The inscriptions on the canvas and its verso may be by different hands. The last digit in the date on the front is ambiguous, suggesting 3, 5, or 6. A review of Brackman’s 1926 exhibition at Babcock Galleries in New York definitely identifies this painting as The Song. Given the prominence of the samovar, however, it is possible that the painting may have been exhibited the year before as The Samovar in his one-man show at the Milch Galleries.
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About The Era

The early twentieth century witnessed the transformation of the United States into a modern industrialized society and an international political power.

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The early twentieth century witnessed the transformation of the United States into a modern industrialized society and an international political power. By 1920 more than half of the country’s population lived in urban areas. Seeming to guarantee employment, the cities lured many farmers and African Americans from rural areas. In addition, between 1900 and 1920, 14.5 million immigrants from Europe, Russia, Mexico, and Asia settled here, primarily in urban centers. A new energy was channeled to such cities as New York and Chicago, as massive skyscrapers were erected to furnish much-needed office space and living quarters. Even West Coast cities were affected—the population of Los Angeles tripled between 1900 and 1910; its unplanned urban sprawl and dizzying speed were captured in the zany movies of the Keystone Cops, filmed on the streets of the city.


Art reflected these changing social and economic dynamics. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism were still popular. Yet other, more progressive ideas now challenged artists. A strong new commitment to realism emerged in literature and the fine arts.


In Philadelphia and New York, a group of artists centered around Robert Henri captured the vitality of urban American life. These realists depicted the hustle and bustle of city streets, the common pleasures of restaurants and various forms of entertainment. Critics dubbed these realists the “Ash Can School” because of their treatment of unidealized subject matter previously considered unattractive. These artists focused on the inhabitants of cities rather than the cities themselves. Their interest in people also led them to create a significant number of single-figure paintings, conveying the human side of the new America . During the 1910s and 1920s the realist celebration of America spread throughout the country, as artists recorded the neighborhoods and people that made their own cities distinct.

 
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Bibliography

  • About the Era.
  • Einzig, Barbara, ed. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Report, July 1, 1979-June 30, 1981. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1982.
  • Fort, Ilene Susan and Michael Quick.  American Art:  a Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection.  Los Angeles:  Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1991.