THE ART OF JAMA
Waiting Room Philip Evergood Jeanette M. Smith, MD
D
espite the advantages available to him in life, Philip Evergood (1901-1973) was mindful of those who were not as fortunate, especially during difficult days of the Great Depression. Social justice was an undercurrent of his work, and instead of showcasing high society, he preferred to focus on those who through poverty or other circumstances had burdens to bear, picturing them with animated faces alight with emotions that may include hope for the future.
Evergood was born in New York City to a father who was also an artist. In 1909, he traveled to England for education, but the plan for him to pursue a career as a naval officer became derailed when he later developed complications thought related to appendicitis. He enrolled in Eton instead where he found encouragement for his imaginative inclinations that included drawing. Under the keen eye of Henry Tonks, Evergood began studying at the Slade School of Fine Art in
Philip Evergood (1901-1973), Waiting Room, circa 1936, American. Oil on canvas board. 57.8 × 67.6 cm. Courtesy of the Wichita Art Museum (https://www.wichitaartmuseum.org/), Wichita, Kansas; museum purchase, Friends of the Wichita Art Museum, Inc, 1982.12.
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The Art of JAMA
London in 1921. The demanding regimen of drawing did not deter him, and he in time achieved a certificate (Taylor K. Philip Evergood: Never Separate From the Heart. Lewisburg, PA/ London, UK/Toronto, Canada: Center Gallery, Bucknell University Press/Associated University Presses; 1987:1-210). After finishing at the Slade, he headed to New York, where he availed himself of instruction at the Art Students League. However, soon he was back in Europe, receiving further tutelage in Paris that included a brief stint at the Académie Julian. In this romantic city he met Julia Cross, a ballet dancer, who came to figure greatly in his future. While traveling in Spain in 1931, Evergood studied the work of masters such as El Greco, whose ability to convey expressivity he so admired (Baur JIH. Philip Evergood. New York, NY: Whitney Museum of American Art/Praeger FA; 1960:43-44). Later that year he and Julia were married in New York. As the Depression was in full force, it was not an ideal time to launch his career, and he was obliged to work as a handyman at an art gallery in the city. Through gallery connections he became acquainted with artist John Sloan of the Ashcan School (JAMA cover, April 22/29, 2009). Evergood would have been familiar with the work of this group of artists having been a student of George Luks at the Art Students League. Prominent in the group was Robert Henri, who had articulated a philosophy of truthfully portraying people and objects of everyday life in art (Taylor, pp 80-81). In the early 1930s, Evergood became involved with the Public Works of Art Project, a federal program to support the work of artists. While he was walking in New York City one evening, his awareness of societal concerns was augmented by encountering men in a vacant lot warming themselves around a fire near improvised shanties. He documented their hardship in works that included the poignant drawing North River Jungle (Taylor, pp 87-90). Shortly thereafter, through a different government program, Works Progress Administration, he produced a mural for the public library in Richmond Hill, Long Island.
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Another example of existence at a basic level may be visualized in persons in a state of repose in Waiting Room. The setting for the tableau appears to be a transportation depot. Attire tends toward the elemental and unadorned, possibly due to melting summer temperatures, suggested by the man in overalls sans shirt. The accommodations are less than luxurious, and it seems that sacks containing some material may be serving double duty as cushions. All appear somnolent except for the woman holding a small child. She alone is alert, gazing into the distance, and perhaps into the future. The adjacent lanky fellow may be her husband, the trio comprising a family pursuing prospects for a new life elsewhere. Outside the platform, perhaps bringing to mind a scene from The Grapes of Wrath, is a vehicle laden with items that appear to include rocking chair and mattress, also suggestive of a search for a better life. As with any waiting room, including that of a physician’s office, people exist in an anticipatory state on the threshold of change, hoping for a good outcome. The figures have attributes of naïveté and simplicity that add to their appeal (JAMA cover, October 10, 2007). The following years saw swings in Evergood’s fortunes. In the early 1940s in connection with the Carnegie Corporation, he created a brightly illustrated mural, The Bridge of Life, at Kalamazoo College (https://cache.kzoo.edu/handle /10920/18333) but had to endure cancer surgery during the project. After having recovered, to make ends meet he went to work in a framing shop in New York, at which, in a happy turn of events, he met collector Joseph Hirshhorn, who purchased many works by Evergood. Evergood demonstrated his dedication to bettering social conditions through picturing the life of the ordinary individual in a compassionate and empathetic manner. His singular artistic style served to direct attention to troubling issues, providing further clarity, and with an ultimate goal of achieving change.
(Reprinted) JAMA February 16, 2016 Volume 315, Number 7
Copyright 2016 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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