1931 Coupe

1931

1931 Coupe, 1931. Reginald Marsh (American, 1898–1954). Watercolor over graphite; sheet: 35.4 x 50.7 cm (13 15/16 x 19 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Felicia Meyer Marsh 1979.66 © Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Although he was best known for depictions of New York City, Reginald Marsh also had a lasting interest in transportation and industry, including trains, bridges, and factories. In many of these works, he focused on the dominating physical presence of machines. This drawing depicts a luxury car—a custom-bodied Model G close-coupled sports coupe made by the elite auto maker duPont. Fewer than 600 of the cars were made. Marsh worked in watercolor but used a drier brush to paint the car's tires so that the white of the paper shows through in tiny spots and contrasts with the smoothly painted metal elements. Made at the height of the Great Depression, a time during which many specialized auto manufacturers went out of business, the artist may have intended to suggest the demise of such extravagances. Marsh had a long-standing interest in transportation, seen throughout even his childhood drawings.