{"data":{"id":"1559","type":"artwork","attributes":{"id":1559,"topgoose_id":8346,"portfolio_id":203,"tms_id":1559,"title":"Twenty Cent Movie","display_artist_text":"Reginald Marsh","display_date":"1936","accession_number":"37.43a-b","dimensions":"Overall: 30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm)","medium":"Carbon pencil, ink, and oil on composition board","department":"collection","classification":"Paintings","credit_line":"Purchase","is_virtual":false,"is_portfolio":false,"portfolio_tms_id":203,"portfolio":"Study for Twenty Cent Movie","edition":null,"publication_info":"","description":"\u003cp\u003eReginald Marsh, \u003cem\u003eTwenty Cent Movie\u003c/em\u003e, 1936. Carbon pencil, ink, and oil on composition board, overall: 30 × 40 in. (76.2 × 101.6 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase 37.43a-b. © Estate of Reginald Marsh/Art Students League, New York/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York\u003c/p\u003e","object_label":"\u003cp\u003eBoth theatrical and cinematic in its conception, the subject of Reginald Marsh’s \u003ci\u003eTwenty Cent Movie \u003c/i\u003ewas the Lyric Theatre in New York City. The movie marquee images and advertising signs in the background are based on contemporary films, actors, and actresses, with the theater’s double bill of movies joining \u003ci\u003eWe Live Again\u003c/i\u003e—an adaptation of a tragic novel by Leo Tolstoy—with an upbeat musical comedy called \u003ci\u003eMoonlight and Pretzels \u003c/i\u003e(upper left). Here, Marsh’s meticulous replication of the signage suggests a wry commentary on the figures he depicts. The foreground scene resembles a stage set, with “real-life” stars, bit-players, and extras poised for action. The women in the painting wear cheap imitations of the latest Hollywood styles, while the man on the far right adopts the self-assured posture and flamboyant suit worn by the beloved gangsters of 1930s cinema. In an era when the movie star became the nation’s dominant icon, Marsh’s characters reflect the longings and aspirations projected from the cinematic screen. The advertising copy for upcoming attractions—“Human Emotions Stripped Bare” and “Joys of the Flesh”—suggests the possibility of intimate exchange, but Marsh’s characters are too occupied with posing to interact with their environment or each other.\u003c/p\u003e","ai_alt_text":"Crowd of people entering a brightly lit movie theater under a \"Now Playing\" marquee.","alt_text":null,"visual_description":null,"on_view":false,"created_at":"2017-08-30T16:20:53.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-02-06T12:00:14.939-05:00","images":[{"id":93356,"url":"https://whitneymedia.org/assets/artwork/1559/37_43a_cropped.jpg"}]},"relationships":{"artists":{"data":[{"id":"841","type":"artist"}]}}}}