Fifties Individuals

Philippe Halsman
Marlon Brando
1950
gelatin silver print
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Philippe Halsman
Zsa Zsa Gabor
1951
gelatin silver print
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Richard Avedon
Buster Keaton
1952
gelatin silver print
National Museum of American History, Washington DC

 

Elizabeth Catlett
Ethel Rosenberg
1952
drawing
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Carl Van Vechten
Leontyne Price
1952
photogravure
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Chim (David Seymour)
Kirk Douglas
1954
(inkjet print produced from original negative in 2006)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Gordon Parks
Gloria Vanderbilt, New York
1954
gelatin silver print
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Ben Shahn
J. Robert Oppenheimer
1954
drawing
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Leigh Wiener
Billie Holiday
1954
gelatin silver print
National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC

John Koch
Princess Margaret
1955
oil on panel
(commissioned by Time magazine)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Kay Bell Reynal
T.S. Eliot
1955
gelatin silver print
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Henry Koerner
Julie Harris
1955
oil on canvas
(commissioned by Time magazine)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Elmer Bischoff
Richard Diebenkorn
ca. 1956
ink on paper
Archives of American Art, Washington DC

Leon Levinstein
West Side
1957
gelatin silver print
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Boris Artzybasheff
George Beadle
1958
tempera on panel
(commissioned by Time magazine)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Bernard Safran
Jean Thom
1958
oil on panel
(commissioned by Time magazine)
National Portrait Gallery, Washington DC

Man Ray
Naomi Savage
ca. 1959
color transparency back-coated with gouache
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

from Near The New Whitney

In the Meatpacking District,

Not far from the new Whitney,

In a charming restaurant,

I showed how charming I can be.

I showed how blue my eyes can be. 

I showed I can be Dante first catching sight of Beatrice.

The maître d' was new to me.

The sudden sight of her, so gently lovely,

Threw me at the pressed-tin ceiling, where I stuck.

I asked her where I was, her name was Emily.

I don't know who the ceiling was.

I doubt pressed tin was what it was. 

I was moonstruck.

Now I could only look up.

American art used to be risky.

American art used to be frisky

And drink a lot of whisky.

I looked up at Emily, not far from the new Whitney.

Seventy years ago

There were violently drunkard painters downtown who,

Many of them, painted violently

In the Hamptons also.

Now they were in the splendid new Whitney, dead

Instead.

– Frederick Seidel (2018)

Living Color

Charles Cushman
Republican National Convention, Hilton Hotel, San Francisco
1964
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Market & 2nd, San Francisco
1957
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Housing to be Demolished, Gough & Ellis, San Francisco
1959
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Demolition of Wells Fargo Building,
Market & Post, San Francisco
1966
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Up O'Farrell from Buchanan, San Francisco
1960
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Lyon & Pacific, San Francisco
1953
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Rhododendron Week, Union Square, San Francisco
1962
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Telegraph Hill, San Francisco
1957
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Haight Street, San Francisco
1967
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Hydrangea, Sea Cliff, San Francisco
1958
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Aeonium Holochrysum, Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco
1955
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Rhododendron, Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco
1953
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Magnolia, Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco
1960
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Cherry Blossoms, Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco
1953
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

Charles Cushman
Clouds, San Francisco
1955
Kodachrome slide
Indiana University Library, Bloomington

And to me it seemeth that Agamemnon got together that fleet, not so much for that he had with him the suitors of Helen bound thereto by oath to Tindareus as for this, that he exceeded the rest in power.  For they that by tradition of their ancestors know the most certainty of the acts of the Peloponnesians say that first Pelops, by the abundance of wealth which he brought with him out of Asia to men in want, obtained such power amongst them, as, though he were a stranger, yet the country was called after his name; and that this power was also increased by his posterity.  For Eurystheus being slain in Attica by the Heracleidae, Atreus, that was his uncle by the mother, and was then abiding with him as an exiled person for fear of his father for the death of Chrysippus, and to whom Eurystheus, when he understood the expedition, had committed Mycenae and the government thereof, for that he was his kinsman; when as Eurystheus came not back (the Mycenians being willing to it for fear of the Heracleidae, and because he was an able man and made much of the common people) obtained the kingdom of Mycenae, and of whatsoever else was under Eurystheus, for himself; and the power of the Pelopides became greater than that of the Perseides.  To which greatness Agamemnon succeeding, and also far excelling the rest in shipping, took that war in hand, as I conceive it, and assembled the said forces, not so much upon favour as by fear.  For it is clear that he himself both conferred most ships to that action and that some also he lent to the Arcadians.  And this is likewise declared by Homer (if any think his testimony sufficient), who, at the delivery of the scepter unto him, calleth him, "of many isles and of all Argos king."  Now, he could not, living in the continent, have been lord of the islands, other than such as were adjacent which cannot be many, unless he had also had a navy.  And by this expedition we are to estimate what were those of the ages before it. 

– from The Peloponnesian War as written by Thucydides (5th century BC) and translated by Thomas Hobbes (1628) and edited by David Grene (1959)

Denizens of the 1950s

Manolis Polymeris
Figure in Red
1951
oil on panel
National Gallery, Athens

Alberto Giacometti
Portrait of Annette
1958
oil on canvas
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Barry Kay
Design for Stage Costume
1954
drawing, with gouache and colored chalks
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Marie Laurencin
Fairy Flowers
1950
oil on canvas
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Noel Counihan
Académie
1954
drawing
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Francis Bacon
Study for Figure IV
1956-57
oil on canvas
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Panayiotis Tetsis
Portrait of Kiki Playiannakou
1954
oil on canvas
National Gallery, Athens

Panayiotis Tetsis
Portrait of Stel Nikolaidis
1955-56
oil on canvas
National Gallery, Athens

Yannis Moralis
Figure
1951
oil on canvas
National Gallery, Athens

Viktor Ivanov
Long Live Our Power!
The Homeland of Great Ideas!
1958
lithograph
Yale University Art Gallery

Yannis Tsarouhis
Sailor
1950
screenprint
National Gallery, Athens

Willem De Kooning
Untitled (Woman)
1951
drawing
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Eva Hesse
Figure Study
1957
drawing
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Dimitris Davis
Student
1957
oil on canvas
National Gallery, Athens

Svend Wiig Hansen
Walking Figure with Hanging Arms
1957
drawing
Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen

Graham Sutherland
The Oracle
1959
oil on canvas
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

What can the shadow-like generations of man attain
But build up a dazzling mockery of delight that under their touch dissolves again?
Oedipus seemed blessed, but there is no man blessed amongst men.

Oedipus overcame the woman-breasted Fate;

He seemed like a strong tower against Death and first among the fortunate;
He sat upon the ancient throne of Thebes, and all men called him great.

But, looking for a marriage-bed, he found the bed of his birth,
Tilled the field his father had tilled, cast seed into the same abounding earth.
Entered through the door that had seen him wailing forth.

Begetter and begot as one! How could that be hid?
What darkness cover up that marriage-bed? Time watches, he is eagle-eyed.
And all the works of man are known and every soul is tried. 

Would you had never come to Thebes, nor to this house, 
Nor riddled with the woman-breasted Fate, beaten off Death and succoured us,
That I had never raised this song, heartbroken Oedipus!

– Sophocles, chorus from King Oedipus (429 BC), translated by W.B. Yeats (1928)

Fifties Looks

Pancaldi of Bologna
Evening Shoes
ca. 1956
silk satin and leather
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Hermès
Gloves
ca. 1950
suede with broderie anglaise in silk
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Gabrielle Chanel
Hat
c1955
wool-felt-
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Esther Bubley
Untitled
1952
gelatin silver print
San Diego Museum of Art

Cristóbal Balenciaga
Cocktail Dress
ca. 1954
silk
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

Yves Saint Laurent for Dior
Cocktail Dress
1959
silk taffeta
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Anonymous Milliner (USA)
Hat
ca. 1950
wool felt, silk veiling, feathers
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Jean Dessès
Evening Gown
ca. 1958
silk base trimmed with dyed-to-match machine-lace
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Charles James
Ballgown
1951
silk velvet, silk satin, silk faille
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona

Norman Hartnell
Court Ensemble
1950
silk tulle with gold and silver lamé
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Louis Faurer
New York City
1951
gelatin silver print
Art Institute of Chicago

Pauline Trigère
Cocktail Dress and Bolero
ca. 1959
wool lined with silk
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Mainbocher
Ballgown
1955
silk faille
Phoenix Art Museum, Arizona

James Galanos
Ballgown
1956
metallic lace with silk satin bows
Philadelphia Museum of Art

André-Charles Biéler
Sous Bois
1951
oil on canvas
Ottawa Art Gallery, Ontario

Helen Rose
Wedding Gown for Grace Kelly
(fabricated at Metro Goldwyn Meyer in Hollywood)
1956
silk lace, silk faille, silk tulle, seed pearls
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Easy Knowledge

Between attention and attention, 

The first and last decision,

Is mortal distraction

Of earth and air,

Further and nearer,

The vague wants 

Of days and nights,
And personal error;

And the fatigued face,

Taking the strain

Of the horizontal force
And the vertical thrust,

Makes random answer

To the crucial test;

The uncertain flesh,

Scraping back chair

For the wrong train,

Falling in slush

Before a friend's friends

Or shaking hands

With a snub-nosed winner.

The opening window, closing door,

Open, close, but not

To finish or restore;

These wishes get

No further than

The edges of the town,

And leaning asking from the car

Cannot tell us where we are;

While the divided face

Has no grace,

No discretion,

No occupation

But registering

Acreage, mileage,

The easy knowledge
Of the virtuous thing.

– W.H. Auden (1930)