GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Cat Fish Row, a fictional neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina, was the setting of George Gershwin’s 1934 opera, Porgy & Bess, about a crippled beggar and his love in a predominantly African American community. The Gershwins commissioned George Biddle to illustrate Porgy and Bess’s libretto. Biddle visited Charleston in June of that year, making a number of ink sketches that he later developed into oil paintings and lithographs.
Adapted from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy, 2005.
NOTES
Created 1936
July 2005
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Biddle, George (American, 1885-1973)
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Charleston (South Carolina/United States): TGN: 7013582
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1981: Dallas Museum of Art, Foundations for the Arts Collection, gift of Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston~View other works inspired by Catfish Row and George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess.
- YouTube~Listen to Miles Davis perform an arrangement of "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
- George Biddle, a closer personal friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of the people behind the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
- Though born in Philadelphia, he had a close connection to Texas, where he spent 1908–09 working as a cowboy. He continued to visit the state often, and in 1940 he settled for a time in San Antonio where he completed a number of notable drawings, watercolors, and paintings.
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1981.154.FA
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General Description
Cat Fish Row, a fictional neighborhood in Charleston, South Carolina, was the setting of George Gershwin’s 1934 opera, Porgy & Bess, about a crippled beggar and his love in a predominantly African American community. The Gershwins commissioned George Biddle to illustrate Porgy and Bess’s libretto. Biddle visited Charleston in June of that year, making a number of ink sketches that he later developed into oil paintings and lithographs.
Adapted from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label copy, 2005.
Fun Facts
- George Biddle, a closer personal friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of the people behind the creation of the Works Progress Administration (WPA).
- Though born in Philadelphia, he had a close connection to Texas, where he spent 1908–09 working as a cowboy. He continued to visit the state often, and in 1940 he settled for a time in San Antonio where he completed a number of notable drawings, watercolors, and paintings.
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- The Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston~View other works inspired by Catfish Row and George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess.
- YouTube~Listen to Miles Davis perform an arrangement of "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess.
Notes
Created 1936
July 2005
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Biddle, George (American, 1885-1973)
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Charleston (South Carolina/United States): TGN: 7013582
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1981: Dallas Museum of Art, Foundations for the Arts Collection, gift of Mrs. Alfred L. Bromberg [1]
[1] The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, was changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
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