In light of our upcoming MAAd Men Exhibition, which features three notable Abstract artists, we study the 1951 New Yorker cover by Garrett Price.
This famous cover depicts an artist arriving at Mystic Museum of Art, then know as the Mystic Art Association (MAA) for an exhibit with a rather interesting piece. A number of other artists are depicted including Yngve Soderberg, Beonne Boronda, Harve Stein and the famous portrait artist Robert Brackman. Artwork for the cover is by Garret Price (1896-1979), a well known illustrator and Connecticut resident who was active in the Mystic arts community for many years.
The following is reproduced from “A Time to Remember; Art and Artists of the Mystic, Connecticut Area, 1700-1950”, published by Stone Ledge Studio Art Galleries, Noank, CT.
While Price has taken liberty with the general setting, the character of the locale is definitely the main gallery of the Mystic Art Association building. Identifiable individuals are: Brackman with hammer in hand and cigarette in mouth, Soderberg on the ladder, and Stein fastening screw eyes in a frame. Bonnie Boronda is placing a piece of sculpture. Garrett Price uses himself as the modernistic artist bringing in the new art.
In the great tradition of Daumier and other social satirists, Price is here pointing out, in a humorous fashion, the grave changes in American art that have influenced the character of Fine Art in the Mystic region since approximately 1950.
