We're Worrying in our Room, When the Reverend Doctor Bently Comes to Call
Date1934
Artist
Harry Beckhoff
(American illustrator, 1901–1979)
Illustration Citation"Act Natural," by Luke Faust, in Collier's Weekly, July 21, 1934
MediumWatercolor and graphite on illustration board
Dimensionssheet: 17 1/2 × 13 1/4 in. (44.5 × 33.7 cm)
mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
mat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
Credit LineF. V. du Pont Acquisition Fund, 1986
Object number1986-38
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextIn this story about two would-be actors pondering how to get critical attention, a minister friend asks them to do a benefit for his church. Luckily, a critic sees the performance, and their fortunes are made. Beckhoff's simplified forms and convincing gestures and facial expressions made him popular for many types of illustration, including a series of advertisements for Birds Eye frozen foods in the 1940s.
Beckhoff began his compositions with small sketches that were almost thumb-nail in size. He then enlarged the drawing with a pantograph - a device for duplicating a shape to smaller or larger scale - and inked in the outlines. The tonal or color areas were painted in with flat washes.
Beckhoff described his work as having been influenced by French Art Deco illustrator-designers Charles Martin (d. 1934), and Piere Brissaud (d. 1964), and A. E. Marty. He also cited his teachers, George Bridgman, Dean Cornwell, and Harvey Dunn for their encouragement and training.
Burton Philip Silverman
1956
