Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2011 The Cult of Personality: Gertrude Stein and the Development of the Object Portrait in American Visual Art Christal Hensley Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VISUAL ARTS, THEATRE AND DANCE THE CULT OF PERSONALITY: GERTRUDE STEIN AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE OBJECT PORTRAIT IN AMERICAN VISUAL ART BY CHRISTAL HENSLEY A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Art History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2011 The members of the committee approve the dissertation of Christal Hensley defended on June 20, 2011. _________________________ Karen A. Bearor Professor Directing Dissertation _________________________ John J. Fenstermaker University Representative _________________________ Adam D. Jolles Committee Member _________________________ Roald Nasgaard Committee Member Approved: ________________________________________________________ Adam D. Jolles, Chair, Department of Art History _________________________________________________________ Sally E. McRorie, Dean, College of Visual Arts, Theatre and Dance The Graduate School has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii In memory of Dr. Lyle Blackwell, Dr. Ivan Pav, and Scott Carter Dedicated to My mother, Betty Cowden Carter, and my son, Devin Nathaniel Kelley Thank you for the sacrifices that you have made for me. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the faculty and staff of The Florida State University Department of Art History for their support and encouragement. I would also like to thank the Department of Art History for providing me with the opportunity to teach as an Arthur Appleton Fellow. In addition, I am grateful to the Penelope E. Mason Foundation for generously supporting my project. I am also very grateful to my committee members, Dr. John J. Fenstermaker, Dr. Adam Jolles, and Dr. Roald Nasgaard for their patience and support throughout this process. I deeply appreciate their dedication to teaching and fostering a challenging and fulfilling learning experience. I would like to especially thank my advisor professor, Dr. Karen A. Bearor, for her patience, guidance, hard work, and dedication to my project. This has been one of the most valuable experiences of my life thanks to her professionalism and expertise. I am very thankful for all that I have learned. I would also like to thank Amy Hopkins, Dawn Kraft, Virginia Salmon, and especially Michelle Wyatt at Northeast State Community College‘s Wayne G. Basler Library. A special thanks to the faculty and staff of the humanities department at Northeast State for their encouraging words and support. Finally, I would like to thank Cody Buczkowske for his random words of wisdom. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures................................................................................................................................vi Abstract...........................................................................................................................................x 1. Introduction........................................................................................................................1 2. Marius de Zayas: The Psychology of Form...................................................................29 3. Francis Picabia: A Mechanical Icon..............................................................................52 4. Marsden Hartley: Mystical Icons...................................................................................69 5. Second Generation Portraits: Locating the Lost Generation .....................................96 6. Conclusion......................................................................................................................123 Appendices..................................................................................................................................129 A. Figures....................................................................................................................................129 B. Copyright Permission Letters..............................................................................................173 Bibliography...............................................................................................................................177 Biographical Sketch...................................................................................................................195 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Marsden Hartley, One Portrait of One Woman, 1916, oil on composition board, 30 x 25 ¼ inches. Collection Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Bequest of Hudson D. Walker from the Ione and Hudson D. Walker Collection. [Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, Marsden Hartley (New Haven: Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art, 2002) 108, plate 26.].......................................................................................................130 Figure 2. Man Ray, Gertrude Stein and Picasso's Portrait, 1922, 3 ¾ x 4 ¾ inches, Vintage gelatin silver print from the Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection...........131 Figure 3. Edgar Degas, Woman Seated Beside a Vase of Flowers (Madame Paul Valpinçon?), 1865, oil on canvas, 29 x 36 ½ inches, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H. O. Havemeyer, 1929 (29.100.128), Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Artstor)....................................132 Figure 4. Vincent Van Gogh, Portrait of Dr. Gachet, 1890, oil on canvas, 26 ½ x 22 ½ inches, Private Collection. [Meyer Schapiro, Vincent Van Gogh (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994), 121.]..................................................................................................133 Figure 5. Vincent Van Gogh, Gauguin’s Armchair, Candle and Books, 1888, oil on canvas, 90.5 x 72.5 cm. (Artstor)....................................................................................134 Figure 6. Alfred Stieglitz, Self-Portrait, negative 1907, print 1930, Gelatin Silver Print, 9 ¾ x 7 ¼ inches. [Sarah Greenough, Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries (Boston: Bulfinch Press, 2000), 14.]................135 Figure 7. Pablo Picasso, The Architect’s Table, 1912, oil on canvas mounted on panel, 28 x 23 ½ inches, The William S. Paley Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York. [Charles Harrison, Francis Frascina, and Gill Perry, Primitivism, Cubism, Abstraction: The Early Twentieth Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), 149, plate 124.]..........................................................................136 Figure 8. Marius de Zayas, Alfred Stieglitz, 1909, charcoal drawing. [Sarah Greenough, Modern Art and America: Alfred Stieglitz and His New York Galleries (Boston: Bulfinch Press, 2000), 144.]........................................................................137 Figure 9. Marius de Zayas, L’accoucheur d‘idees, 1909, charcoal drawing, 62.3 x 47.8 cm., The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Alfred Stieglitz Collection. (Artstor)......................................................................................................................................138 Figure 10. Marius de Zayas, Alfred Stieglitz, 1912, charcoal, 24 ¼ x 18 inches The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Alfred Stieglitz Collection. (Artstor).....................149 vi Figure 11. Soul-Catcher, Danger Island, British Museum, coconut fiber string, ©Trustees of the British Museum.............................................................................................140 Figure 12. Pablo Picasso, Ma Jolie, 1911–1912, oil on canvas, 39 x 25 ¾ inches, The Museum of Modern Art, New York. [Sam Hunter, The Museum of Modern Art, New York: The History and the Collection (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1984), 152, figure 203.]......................................................................................141 Figure 13. Francis Picabia, Mechanical Expression Seen Through Our Own Mechanical Expression, 1913, watercolor on paper, 20 x 15.5 cm. (Artstor).......................142 Figure 14. Photograph of Stacia Napierkowska, c. 1912. [William A. Camfield, Francis Picabia: His Art, Life and Times (New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1979), illustration 6.]..................................................................................................................143 Figure 15. Crooke‟s Radiometer..............................................................................................144 Figure 16. Francis Picabia, Stardancer on a Transatlantic Liner, 1913, watercolor on paper, 75 x 55 cm., Private Collection. [Maria Lluïsa Borràs, Picabia (New York: Rizzoli, 1985), 139.]..................................................................................145 Figure 17. Marsden Hartley, Portrait Arrangement No. 2, 1912–13, oil on canvas, 39 ½ x 31 inches, Private Collection. [Elizabeth Mankin Kornhauser, Marsden Hartley (New Haven: Wadsworth Athenaeum Museum of Art, 2002), 61, plate 9.]............146 Figure 18. Marsden Hartley, Raptus, 1913, oil on canvas, 39 x 32 inches, Currier Museum of Art, Gift of Paul and Hazel Strand in Memory of Elizabeth McCausland. [Gail R. Scott, Marsden Hartley (New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1988), 40.]......................................................................................................147