Renting a Room
Date1917
Artist
Charles Edward Chambers
(American artist and illustrator, 1883–1941)
Illustration Citation"Martie the Desirous," by Kathleen Norris, in Pictorial Review, March 1917.
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
Credit LineAcquisition Fund, 1986
Object number1986-146
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextThis story centers on Martie Monroe, a middle-class woman who marries an irresponsible actor, has two children, and is relegated to a boarding house while her husband is on tour. The death of her husband and one of her children force her to face life on her own. Through determination and perseverance, she becomes a successful business woman. In this scene, her husband tries to persuade a landlady to lower the cost of rent.Iowa native Charles E. Chambers studied at the Chicago Art Institute and the Art Students League in New York. He created both narrative illustrations for literary authors such as Pearl Buck and W. Somerset Maugham, and advertisements for clients such as Chesterfield cigarettes and Palmolive. He worked under exclusive contract for Cosmopolitan magazine for many years.
