He would have been #bae. Clarence DeShields Playing the Guitar, 1931, oil, 44" x 36". "Rose knew DeShields well and recorded his character and appearance in her notes: “Clarence was very tall, and walked as if he were tied together with string. He had a most engaging wide, slow smile that went with his unfailing sense of amusement about the world in general.”19 In her large-scale oil portrait of DeShields, Rose portrays this sense of amusement through his slightly upturned lips, his sparkling eyes, and his relaxed, angled pose. She noted he was the first model to bring special clothes for his portrait, and he wears a smartly pressed white shirt and a jacket. It is an active portrait: He is shown strumming his guitar. His face—framed by his hat and highlighted below by his crisp white shirt—is the central focus and contains the descriptors of his inner being." From the exhibition catalogue by art historian and curator @barbara.paca #RuthStarrRose #LewisMuseum #ClassicMan #BrownCapitolManagement (at Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & CultureReginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History & Culture)
