Shovel Hats

Guy Pene du Bois, Shovel Hats, 1923, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.27
Copied Guy Pene du Bois, Shovel Hats, 1923, oil on plywood, 20 x 14 3⁄4 in. (50.7 x 37.5 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.27

Artwork Details

Title
Shovel Hats
Artist
Date
1923
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
20 x 14 3⁄4 in. (50.7 x 37.5 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on plywood
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Cityscape
  • Dress — accessory — hat
Object Number
1986.6.27
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.6.27

Artwork Description

Pène du Bois made his artistic debut at the 1905 Paris Salon but returned to New York in 1906. He took a job at the New York American and for the next fifteen years worked as both a painter and an art critic. By the 1920s, Pène du Bois was well known for ironic paintings of what he called the “symbols of sophistication.” His depictions of affluent society enjoying leisure moments---at the race track and in restaurants and night clubs---often caricature the vacuity of their fascination with style.


Modern American Realism: The Sara Roby Foundation Collection, 2014

Exhibitions

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134
Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum
This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.