Doll

probably after 1916 and before 1923

Born Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1882; died Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1960

The dramatic lighting in this painting of a dancing doll creates an uneasy, disturbing tone. After his experience in Europe at the outbreak of the First World War, Covert increasingly employed dolls and toys in his paintings, perhaps as a means of expressing his fears of a civilization's general loss of innocence. It is easy to see in Doll-with its bright light and distinct, sinister shadows-Covert's fascination with the new medium of film and his work as a cinematographer. His strange images, of a kind of puppet theater, seem akin to film noir.

Oil on paperboard

23 1/4 x 25 1/2 in. (59.1 x 64.8 cm)

Gift of Paul Denby Mackie in memory of Kathleen Lawler and Nona Lawler Mackie

59.151

Provenance: The artist to Kathleen Lawler (1881-1952), probably 1923; by bequest to her sister, Nona Lawler Mackie, Bellevue, Washington, 1952; by bequest to her husband, Paul Denby Mackie, Bellevue, Washington; to SAM, 1959

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistoryIn chronological order:

Dallas, Dallas Museum for Contemporary Arts, American Genius in Review, No. 1, May 11-June 19, 1960. Text by Douglas MacAgy. Cat. no. 17, not reproduced.

Wilmington, Delaware, Delaware Art Museum, Avant-Garde Painting and Sculpture in America 1910-25, Apr. 4-May 18, 1975. Text by William Inness Homer et al. No cat. no., listed p. 172.

Washington, D.C., Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, John Covert, 1882-1960, Sept. 16-Nov. 14, 1976. Cat. no. 10, p. 34, reproduced p. 35.

University Park, Pennsylvania, Palmer Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania State University, John Covert Rediscovered, Feb. 11-Apr. 20, 2003 (Lancaster, Pennsylvania, The Demuth Foundation, Aug. 1-Sept. 21, 2003; Annville, Pennsylvania, Lebanon Valley College, Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Aug. 28-Oct.12, 2003). Text by Leo G. Mazow and Michael R. Taylor. Cat. no.5, pp. 13, 31, 40, reproduced p. 41.

Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Modern in America, July 8, 2004- Feb. 27, 2005. No catalogue.

Published ReferencesAskew, Rual. "Bypassed Artists to Gain Fresh Study," The Dallas Morning News, April 26, 1960: Section 1, p. 12.

Askew, Rual. "Mementos Current and From Recall," The Dallas Morning News, May 15, 1960: Section 5, p. 4.

Dallas Morning News, June 5, 1960: Section 5, p. 5, reproduced.

MacAgy, Douglas. "Five Rediscovered from the Lost Generation," Art News 59, no. 4 (Summer 1960): p. 40, reproduced fig. 5.

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