On View
Not on viewObject number2013.19
The Musicians
Artist
James Ormsbee Chapin
(American, 1887-1975)
Date1923
Mediumwatercolor on paper
Dimensionsimage: 13 1/4 × 9 3/4 in. (33.7 × 24.8 cm)
frame: 22 × 15 7/8 × 1 1/2 in. (55.9 × 40.3 × 3.8 cm)
frame: 22 × 15 7/8 × 1 1/2 in. (55.9 × 40.3 × 3.8 cm)
Credit LinePurchased with funds given by Elizabeth Upjohn Mason and Lowell B. Mason, Jr. in memory of Elizabeth B. Hawk
Label TextThough the musicians have yet to draw bows across strings, the visual rhythms of this watercolor are fully engaged. James Chapin has composed a syncopation of alternating blacks and whites, melodious brown tones in hourglass form, and grey-blue music stands in staccato accents--all of which crescendo to the tall contrabass. Chapin shapes the figures and instruments with a subtle faceting, a cubist device used to show a subject from several viewpoints simultaneously. The soft geometry introduces a flickering liveliness, which adds movement and complexity without abstracting the scene of performing musicians.
The Chapin name is more widely popularized by the artist's son and grandson: jazz drummer Jim Chapin and folk singer Harry Chapin. However, James Chapin was a valuable contributor to the American Modernist movement.
