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Howard Chandler Christy Painting of Nude from Cafe des Artistes
$125,000List Price
About the Item
(1873 – 1952)
Gorgeous, large oil painting of a nude woman with a parrot from New York's famed Café des Artistes
Signed and dated "1935" in the lower left.
On the back is written, "Please Return To / Property of / Howard Chandler Christy / No. 1 West 67th St / N.Y. City / #3"
This painting once hung in the Café des Artistes at 1 West 67th St, New York, NY.
The woman is Nancy May Palmer, Christy’s last wife. She was widely known as the “Christy Girl” due to the fact that she often modeled for her husband. Chandler's paintings were one of the fine restaurant's claims to fame, and this particular painting, sometimes referred to as "The Parrot Girl", is often cited as one of the restaurant's main points of interest. This painting is both a fabulous example of museum-quality American art and a rare piece of New York City's cultural history. The boisterous quality of its subject matter and its vibrant colors, including briliant gold, make this painting a true treasure.
This painting was acquired by its owners at auction in 2001. A fire at the Café des Artistes forced the restaurant to sell some of its treasured paintings, including this one.
Howard Chandler Christy was one of America's most distinguished illustrators, whose work, like that of Norman Rockwell, successfully captured the pulse of the nation. His career was established when he worked for "Scribner's" and "Leslie's Weekly" doing illustrations of American troops in Cuba during the Spanish American War. After that, he was most sought after for his sumptuous, lush portraits of women, although he also painted other notables that included President Calvin Coolidge, General Douglas McArthur, Eddie Rickenbacker, Amelia Earhart, Herbert Hoover, and Benito Mussolini. Chandler was also a muralist and much sought-after teacher, giving classes in New York City at Cooper Union, the Chase School, the New York School of Art, and the Art Students League.
Christy was born in Duncan Falls, Ohio where he grew up on his family's farm. At age sixteen he went to New York City to study at the Art Student's League, and after less than four years he entered the National Academy of Design where he won two prizes in draughtsmanship. He worked for "Scribner's Magazine" as an illustrator for a number of years beginning in 1898. In addition to illustrating articles and stories, he traveled to Cuba and Puerto Rico and sent back illustrations of Spanish-American War activity. It was through this work as a commercial artist that he became a nationally known illustrator.
After his return to the United States, he taught for a brief time in New York; however, he soon returned to his hometown of Duncan Falls. There he built a studio and summer home and divided his time between painting and entertaining visiting authors and publishers. While living in Ohio, he became famous for his stylized depictions of women, popularly known as "Christy Girls." These illustrations appeared in many publications and print art, and were eventually used on recruitment posters for Word War I.
By 1915 he had returned once again to New York City and soon took up portrait painting. Later in life Christy began painting large historical murals. In 1945, he was commissioned by the state of Ohio to paint "The Signing of the Treaty of Greene Ville," which today hangs in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. His most famous of these large compositions, "The Signing of the Constitution of the United States" is located above the grand staircase in The Capitol in Washington DC.
Howard Chandler Christy died peacefully at the age of 80 in 1952, in his beloved studio apartment at the Hotel des Artistes in New York.
- Dimensions:Height: 73 in (185.42 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1935
- Condition:Untouched. Has some minor smudges. It is exactly as it was when it hung in the Cafe des Artistes.
- Seller Location:Lenox, MA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: U080920851730
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