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Calla Lilies (Bert Savoy)

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Photography by Edward C. Robison III
Calla Lilies (Bert Savoy)
Photography by Edward C. Robison III

Calla Lilies (Bert Savoy)

Artist (1883 - 1935)
Date1927
MediumOil on board
Dimensions41 x 47 1/2 in. (104.1 x 120.7 cm)
Framed: 46 x 52 x 1 1/2 in. (116.8 x 132.1 x 3.8 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineAlfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas
Accession number ASC.2012.53
On View
Not on view
Provenanceby bequest from Artist to Georgia O’Keeffe, 1935; given to Fisk University, Nashville, TN, 1949; to Fisk University, Nashville, TN, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, as co-owners, 2012
Label TextCharles Demuth’s painting is both a still life and memorial portrait commemorating Bert Savoy, a vaudeville entertainer famous for campy performances as a female impersonator. Savoy was struck by lightning on a Long Island beach in 1923. The shell and dark waves allude to the site of his death, and the calla lilies are associated with
funerals. Many modern artists used flflowers to signify themes of sexuality and gender expression. Thus, the painting reflflects Savoy and Demuth’s kinship as men in New York queer circles during the early twentieth century.

El cuadro de Charles Demuth es al mismo tiempo un bodegón y un retrato conmemorativo de Bert Savoy, un artista de vodevil famoso por sus extravagantes actuaciones como imitador de mujeres. Savoy fue alcanzado por un rayo en una playa de Long Island en 1923. La concha y las olas oscuras aluden al lugar de su muerte, y los lirios de agua se asocian a los funerales. Muchos artistas modernos utilizaron flflores para representar temas de sexualidad y expresión de género. Así, el cuadro reflfleja la afifinidad de Savoy y Demuth como hombres en el ambiente queer de Nueva York a principios del siglo XX.
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