Burlesque #1

Artist Max Weber (1881 - 1961)

Date1909

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions15 1/4 x 18 1/4 in. (38.7 x 46.4 cm)
Framed: 21 1/4 × 23 3/4 × 2 1/4 in.

ClassificationsPainting

Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2012.501

Signedl.l.: Max Weber 1909

Accession number 2012.501

On View

Not on view

Provenanceto Maynard J. Weber [b. 1923] (Artist’s son); (Downtown Gallery, New York, NY), by 1958; purchased by Vance E. Kondon [1923-1996], San Diego, CA; by descent to Private Collection; to (Christie’s, New York, NY), November 28, 2012, sale 2602, lot 6; purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2012
Label TextWeber painted Burlesque #1 in 1909, the year he returned to New York from his four-year stay in Paris. He was fascinated with vaudeville, a modern form of entertainment popular in theaters across the country. Vaudeville shows presented a variety of acts, from comedy sketches to musical acts to burlesque dance. Instead of creating a realistic depiction of a performance, Weber captured the entertainers’ dynamic energy through rough brushstrokes and angular shapes.

Weber pintó Burlesque n.º 1 en 1909, año en el que regresó a Nueva York tras pasar cuatro años en París. Le fascinaba el teatro de vodevil, que presentaron una variedad de actos, desde comedia hasta actos musicales y bailes burlescos. Weber buscaba transmitir su propia experiencia personal del espectáculo en lugar de realizar una representación realista de una danza en particular.