Aesthetic Pleasure

Maker Peggy Bacon (American, 1895 - 1987)

Collections

American Print Selections

ClassificationsPRINTS

Date1936

Mediumdrypoint on white wove paper

Dimensions6 x 8 1/2 in. (15.2 x 21.6 cm.)

DescriptionHumorous depiction of a group of art lovers in a gallery.

SignedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: Peggy Bacon.

InscribedSigned in lower right of recto in graphite: Peggy Bacon. Inscribed in lower left of recto in graphite: Aesthetic Pleasure - 1936.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Gift of Mrs. Homer D. Crotty.

Status

Not on view

Label TextIn this etching, Bacon's satirical eye is directed at gallery visitors rather than her fellow artists. The image is based on her experiences traveling to museums in Europe, specifically the Pitti Palace in Florence. She catalogued a variety of reactions to the Renaissance masterpieces: the pontificating of an officious guide; tourists squinting in their attempt to understand the works' greatness; and a woman at the far left standing with her back to the art, happier to read about it in her guidebook than to look at it. In the background, Bacon included an art student, dutifully copying one of the paintings.

Object number91.284.1