Portrait Fantasy of Ona Munson
Maker and role
Artist: Eugene Berman, American, born Russia, 1899-1972
Year
1941-1942
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Object detail
Media/Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
39 1/2 x 28 1/2in (100.3 x 72.4cm)
Credit line
Gift of Robert L. B. Tobin
Accession number
1982.84
Object type
Department
Location
Further information
Painter and theatre designer Eugene Berman crowns the head of his wife and muse, Hollywood actress Ona Munson, with an explosive fireball in this fantastical portrait. Tattered drapery in red, blue, and yellow cascades off a dilapidated and patched wooden structure. Bits of shell and rock litter the ground and tabletop, where Munson leans, oblivious to the devastation around her.
In Berman’s paintings of ancient heroines including Cassandra, for which Munson modeled, the leading lady is typically depicted with her back to the viewer or face obscured. In this case, Munson is shown defiantly in profile, eyes coyly downcast, and hair loose over her exposed back.
In Berman’s paintings of ancient heroines including Cassandra, for which Munson modeled, the leading lady is typically depicted with her back to the viewer or face obscured. In this case, Munson is shown defiantly in profile, eyes coyly downcast, and hair loose over her exposed back.
Documentation
Eugene Berman and the Theatre of Melancholia; 1984
Pacific Dreams: Currents of Surrealism and Fantasy in California Art, 1934-1957; Susan Ehrlich; 1995; p. 84
American Art Review; 7:4 (Aug-Sep, 1995); p. 133
An Eye for the Stage; William J. Chiego, Jody Blake (American, b.1953); 2004; p. 86
Pacific Dreams: Currents of Surrealism and Fantasy in California Art, 1934-1957; Susan Ehrlich; 1995; p. 84
American Art Review; 7:4 (Aug-Sep, 1995); p. 133
An Eye for the Stage; William J. Chiego, Jody Blake (American, b.1953); 2004; p. 86
Signature & date
Signed l.r.: EB 1941
Inscribed verso: E. Berman/Hollywood Oct.-Nov. 1941-1942/ Portrait Fantasy of Ona Munson/ E.B./ 1941-1942
Inscribed verso: E. Berman/Hollywood Oct.-Nov. 1941-1942/ Portrait Fantasy of Ona Munson/ E.B./ 1941-1942
Subject period
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