"Dancers with Tulips", Male Nude Figures in Blue and Taupe by Etting

Philadelphia artist Emlen Etting returned again and again to the theme of Icarus Falling, in part because it gave him an opportunity to depict the nude male in motion. This is the fi...

Large and striking, this painting by Robert Childers presents a reclining ballet dancer, clothed above the waist in a dancer's sleeveless shirt, but nude below, holding a pink ribbon and accompanied by three wire-back chairs. Enigmatic and full of symbolism, the dancer is facing away from the viewer so his expression cannot be seen; the three chairs with heart-shaped backs suggest that the man may be in love. Childers himself had been a dancer for two years; he also studied painting at the Philadelphia Museum School of Art, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, and Fleisher Art Memorial, all in Philadelphia. Later he led a peripatetic life, designing for greeting card companies, and creating fabrics, toys and illustrations at one time or another in New York and elsewhere. The painting is oil on canvas, and retains its original wormy chestnut frame...