Satin Rose
“Satin Rose” (1930), painted by the renowned American artist Rolf Armstrong (1889-1960), is an exemplary piece of early 20th-century American portraiture. Known for his luminous depictions of women in fashionable attire, Armstrong’s work captures a sense of beauty and elegance that resonates with the spirit of the Jazz Age and the Art Deco period. In this particular piece, Armstrong presents an image of femininity and grace, illustrating the intricate details of a woman in a soft, satin gown.
Table of Contents
The Main Subject
“Satin Rose” is a young woman poised gracefully, her figure rendered with a delicate balance of light and shadow. She is the embodiment of youthful beauty, wearing a gown that flows and ripples around her in soft waves. The gown, primarily a lavender satin, gleams in the light, its smooth fabric accentuated by folds and creases that give it a rich, almost tactile quality. Armstrong’s mastery of texture is evident in his treatment of the satin fabric, which shimmers with the soft sheen that is characteristic of this luxurious material.
Style, Technique, and Medium
The woman’s face is full of vitality, exuding joy and warmth. Her smile is subtle but confident, and her eyes are directed toward the viewer, establishing a sense of direct engagement. Her soft, wavy blonde hair frames her face in an effortless, yet elegant manner. The roses she holds in her right hand, delicately grasped, add a touch of romance and softness to the composition, their pale pink petals mirroring the delicate hues of the gown. Armstrong’s use of flowers is not just ornamental; they symbolize beauty, femininity, and grace, further emphasizing the overall theme of the painting.
The background of the piece is richly colored with abstract brushstrokes that suggest a dreamy, almost ethereal quality. The deep blue tones of the background contrast with the soft, lighter shades of the woman’s gown, helping her figure to stand out as the central focus. This contrast between the warm lavender tones of the figure and the cool blues of the background creates a sense of depth and dimension, which enhances the realism of the portrait. The soft gradations of color contribute to the overall serene atmosphere of the work, where the light seems to caress the surface of the satin fabric, further enhancing the mood of elegance.
Objects and Composition
The composition is tightly focused on the figure, capturing her in a moment of serene joy. Armstrong’s decision to leave the background somewhat abstract and blurred directs the viewer’s attention entirely to the subject. This emphasis on the figure over the surroundings is a characteristic feature of many of Armstrong’s works, where the human form is celebrated in its natural beauty.
Armstrong’s style in “Satin Rose” exemplifies his signature technique of blending realism with a certain idealized quality. The portraiture is not merely a representation of a woman but rather an exploration of beauty, elegance, and grace. The artist’s use of light and shadow is subtle yet effective, highlighting the contours of the woman’s face and the folds of her gown in a way that gives the painting a sense of dimensionality. Armstrong’s skill in capturing fabric, in particular, is unparalleled, and the way the satin gown appears to catch and reflect the light gives it a fluid, almost living quality.
Theme and Mood
The theme of “Satin Rose” is deeply rooted in the early 20th century’s appreciation for beauty and fashion, reflecting the cultural preoccupations of the time. The 1930s was an era that celebrated glamour, sophistication, and modern femininity, and Armstrong’s work is an embodiment of these ideals. The use of satin fabric, the emphasis on luxurious textures, and the delicate portrayal of a young woman’s radiant beauty all speak to the high regard for elegance that permeated the social and artistic landscapes of the time.
The mood of the painting is one of warmth and serenity. The woman’s gentle smile, the soft folds of her gown, and the serene blue backdrop create an atmosphere of calm elegance. There is a sense of intimacy in the work, as if the viewer is being invited into a private moment with the subject, who stands before us in a poised yet approachable manner. The artist does not present her as an unattainable ideal but as a woman of grace and dignity, who radiates an inner beauty as much as the external qualities the painting depicts.
Conclusion
In terms of materials, Armstrong employed traditional oil paints, using the medium to build up layers of color that add depth and texture to the scene. The painting’s surface, rich in color and form, highlights Armstrong’s ability to create smooth, almost luminescent textures, particularly in the depiction of fabric and skin. The piece is framed in a classical style, with a rich blue border that complements the tones of the background and further enhances the visual impact of the work.
Satin Rose is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a canvas, acrylic and metal print online.
Artist Bio Derived From Wikipedia.org
Rolf Armstrong was born John Scott Armstrong in Bay City, Michigan on April 21, 1889, to Richard and Harriet (Scott) Armstrong. His father owned the Boy-Line Fire Boat Company, which included a line of passenger ships. Some were deployed in Chicago for use at the Chicago World’s Fair there in 1893.
However, the father’s business and family were struggling, and the family homestead was lost to foreclosure. In 1899, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan. Rolf’s father died in 1903, and a year later he and his mother moved to Seattle, Washington, following the footsteps of his oldest brother, William, who had moved there a year earlier. By now Rolf’s artistic interests were emerging to more than a part-time pleasure.
He moved to Chicago in 1908, where he later studied at the Art Institute. He then went on to New York, where he studied with Robert Henri. After a trip to Paris in 1919 to study at the Académie Julian, he returned to New York and established a studio. In 1921 he went to Minneapolis to study calendar production at Brown & Bigelow.
During the 1920s and 1930s, his work appeared on many pieces of sheet music, as well as on the covers of many magazines, most famously for movie fan magazines such as Photoplay and Screenland. His work mostly consists of women; Mary Pickford, Bebe Daniels, and Greta Garbo are just a few of the numerous he painted.
Armstrong’s work for the Pictorial Review was largely responsible for that magazine achieving a circulation of more than two million by 1926. A year later, he was the best-selling calendar artist at Brown & Bigelow. In 1930, RCA hired him to paint pin-ups to advertise their products, and in 1933 the Thomas D. Murphy Calendar Company signed him to produce a series of paintings for their line.
In March 1940, Jewel Flowers, a girl from Lumberton, North Carolina, sent a picture of herself to Armstrong in response to an advert he had placed in the New York Times. Armstrong, 50 at the time, had been based at the Hotel des Artistes on West 67th Street in Manhattan since 1939, and was looking for new models.
He invited Flowers for an interview. On March 25, 1940, Flowers started modeling for Armstrong. Their professional collaboration and friendship lasted for two decades. The first painting, titled “How am I doing?”, reportedly because Flowers, unused to modeling, repeatedly asked Armstrong “How am I doing?” during the modeling session, was first published after World War II had started.
It was Brown & Bigelow’s best selling calendar for 1942 at a time when the company sold millions of calendars in America, and it became one of Armstrong’s most reproduced pictures. Flowers was popular with American servicemen during World War II, some of whom sent her letters proposing marriage. Armstrong’s calendars and silhouettes of Flowers were copied onto bombers and other planes as nose art and painted on tank turrets.
She became so well known during the war, although more as a famous face than by name, that a serviceman’s letter addressed simply as “Jewel Flowers, New York City” was delivered correctly. For many American servicemen abroad, she represented the “Why We Fight” spirit. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s government enlisted her to help promote war bonds.
The January 1, 1945 edition of TIME magazine included Armstrong’s “Toast of the Town” painting of Flowers in an article about Calendar Art. The article noted that calendars with “girl paintings” were “bought heavily by foundries, machine shops, auto-supply dealers.”
Flowers married in 1946. She and her husband lived in several places while he tried a number of business ventures, including Laguna Beach, California, Greenville, South Carolina, Reno, Nevada, where she reportedly worked in as a card dealer for a time, and New York City. According to Michael Wooldridge, coauthor of Pin up Dreams: The Glamour Art of Rolf Armstrong, Armstrong called her a number of times during the period she was following her husband from place to place, to try to persuade her to return to New York and model for him.
Her modeling career ended with Armstrong’s death in 1960. He left a large proportion of his personal wealth to Flowers. In total, Armstrong created around fifty to sixty works using Flowers as the model.
Rolf Armstrong died in 1960 on the island of Oahu, Hawaii as one of the best “pin-up” artists of the first half of the twentieth century.
