Skip to main contentProvenanceThe artist
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition HistoryPublished References
Adolf Dehn
(American, 1895–1968)
Art Lovers
1934
Lithograph on chine collé
Image: 8 7/8 x 12 7/8 in. (22.5 x 32.7 cm)
Sheet: 9 5/8 x 12 3/8 in. (24.4 x 31.4 cm)
Mat: 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
Sheet: 9 5/8 x 12 3/8 in. (24.4 x 31.4 cm)
Mat: 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
Credit LineTerra Foundation for American Art, Daniel J. Terra Collection
Object number1996.15
SignedIn graphite, lower right margin: Adolf Dehn 34
InterpretationIn his lithograph Art Lovers, Adolf Dehn spoofs well-dressed visitors in an art gallery or museum. Looking somewhat like well-groomed poodles, the women sport lavishly fur-trimmed coats that accentuate the delicacy of their daintily shod feet and gloved hands; the men, several posed like proud roosters, are garbed in fashionable suits. The entire gathering gazes pop-eyed at the artworks, while at left, those wishing for a closer look bow reverentially in front of a painting. All ignore the large painting on the back wall, however, perhaps uncomfortable with its subject matter—a recumbent nude and flying bird that may represent an unidentified mythological theme. A keen observer of human behavior, Dehn skillfully parodied aspiring socialites with their airs of self importance as they earnestly go through the motions of aesthetic cultivation.
A prolific printmaker and a master of caricature, Dehn made 665 lithographs between 1920 and 1967. In addition to landscape, he was known for his exaggerated satire, as demonstrated here and in his Contacting Pablo Picasso (TF 1996.65). In order to earn a living from his prints and to stimulate the sale of this lithograph, issued during the Great Depression, the artist formed the Adolf Dehn Print Club: with a five dollar membership, a member could choose one of four prints, including this one. The response, while not overwhelming, helped provide the artist with some income.
Art connoisseurs and those who aspire to their knowledge have long been popular artistic subjects. Both Dehn's Art Lovers and John Sloan's Copyist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (TF 1995.45) acknowledge the growth of socially diverse audiences in the once-exclusive purview of art museum galleries and dealers' showrooms.
A prolific printmaker and a master of caricature, Dehn made 665 lithographs between 1920 and 1967. In addition to landscape, he was known for his exaggerated satire, as demonstrated here and in his Contacting Pablo Picasso (TF 1996.65). In order to earn a living from his prints and to stimulate the sale of this lithograph, issued during the Great Depression, the artist formed the Adolf Dehn Print Club: with a five dollar membership, a member could choose one of four prints, including this one. The response, while not overwhelming, helped provide the artist with some income.
Art connoisseurs and those who aspire to their knowledge have long been popular artistic subjects. Both Dehn's Art Lovers and John Sloan's Copyist at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (TF 1995.45) acknowledge the growth of socially diverse audiences in the once-exclusive purview of art museum galleries and dealers' showrooms.
Margo Pollins Schab, Inc., New York, New York
Terra Foundation for the Arts Collection, Chicago, Illinois, 1996
Exhibition History
Le Temps des loisirs : peintures américaines (At Leisure: American Paintings), Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France (organizer). Venue: Musée d'Art Américain Giverny, France, July 15–October 31, 2007.
Craven, Thomas, ed. A Treasury of American Prints: A Selection of One Hundred Etchings and Lithographs by the Foremost Living American Artists. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1939. Pl. 34.
Lumsdaine, Joycelyn Pang and Thomas O'Sullivan et al. The Prints of Adolf Dehn: A Catalogue Raisonné. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1987. No. 278, p. 141; pl. 9, p. 52.