Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2015.

Music

Artist Philip Evergood (1901-1973)

CultureAmerican

Date1933, revised 1959

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions67 x 119 1/2 in. (170.2 x 303.5 cm)
Overall, Frame: 67 1/2 x 120 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (171.5 x 306.1 x 6.4 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower right:; Philip Evergood ; XXXIII-LIX

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. in memory of Jack Forker Chrysler

Object number80.73

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a large oil on canvas painting in bright, mostly primary, colors. The viewer is faced with a group of thirty-five musicians seated in four rows in a half circle. They are of different ages and ethnic groups playing percussion, brass, woodwind and strings. There are three central figures standing in the foreground. One has his back to viewers and appears to be directing the group. Another faces the viewer and holds up his violin/viola and bow the third plays a trombone in profile.

Label TextPhilip Evergood American, 1901–1973 Music, 1933, revised 1959 Oil on canvas Look at the variety of faces in this informal orchestra, a symphony of humanity uniting different ages, genders, races, and social classes. The artist stands on the right side, facing us with his violin held aloft in a proud salute. Philip Evergood painted Music for the Pierre Degeyter Club in New York, a union of left-wing composers and intellectuals. With its deliberately coarse and naïve style, Evergood’s painting is akin to the anthems and folk ballads created by his fellow Degeyter Club members, blending ideology and art to make a clear and powerful political statement. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in memory of Jack Forker Chrysler 80.73 ProvenanceThe artist; ACA Galleries, New York, 1933; Mr. & Mrs. Harris J. Klein, Brooklyn, New York, after 1946; ACA Galleries, New York; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr., in memory of Jack Forker Chrysler, to the Chrysler Museum, 1980. Exhibition HistoryPierre Degeyter Club, New York, N.Y. Amalgamated Bank, New York, N.Y., until 1956. "American Figure Painting: 1950-1980," Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., October 16 - November 30, 1980. (Exh. cat. p. 48) "Come Together, Right Now: The Art of Gathering," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, October 11, 2020 - January 3, 2021.Published ReferencesOliver Larkin, _Twenty Evergood Years_, exh. cat., ACA Galleries, New York, N.Y., 1946, 37. John I. H. Baur, _Philip Evergood_, exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, N.Y., 1960, 30, plate 17. Alfredo Valente, _Philip Evergood, a Painter of Ideas_, exh. cat., The Gallery of Modern Art, New York, N.Y., 1969, no. 51. John I. H. Baur, _Philip Evergood_ (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1972), plate 118. ISBN: 0810901048 Thomas W. Styron, "Evergood Painting Acquired," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_ 10, no. 8 (August 1980): 1-2. Thomas W. Styron, _American Figure Painting 1950-1980_, exh. cat., The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., 1980, 48. _The Chrysler Museum: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Norfolk, Virginia_ (Norfolk: Chrysler Museum, 1982), 103. ISBN: 0-940744-37-6 David P. Peeler, _Hope Among Us Yet: Social Criticism and Social Solace in Depression America_ (Athens, Ga.: The University of Georgia Press, 1987), 203, 248-249. ISBN: 0820309028 Kendall Taylor, _Philip Evergood: Never Separate from the Heart_, exh. cat., The Center Gallery of Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pa., 1987, 87. ISBN: 0838751113 Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings_ (Norfolk: The Chrysler Museum, 1991), no. 137, 181. ISBN: 0-940744-59-7, 0-940744-62-7 Andrew Hemingway, _Artists on the Left_ (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 60-61. ISBN: 0300092202 Shelley Kruger Weisberg, "A Moving Museum Experience," _VAM News Magazine_ (Spring 2003): 8-10. Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 184-185, no. 116. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Shelley Kruger Weisberg,_Museum Movement Techniques: How to Craft a Moving Museum Experience_ Lanham: AltaMira Press, 2006, 2-3, fig. 1.1, 47, fig. 3.3. DVD included. ISBN: 0-7591-0825-0