Attempted Bloggery: Reginald Marsh: Gypsy Rose Lee in "Star and Garter"

Sunday, May 26, 2024

Reginald Marsh: Gypsy Rose Lee in "Star and Garter"

If you went to the Music Box Theatre on Broadway between the summer of 1942 and fall of 1943 you would have attended a performance of "Star and Garter." Mike Todd's musical revue starred Bobby Clark, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Georgia Sothern. In 1943, Reginald Marsh painted Lee onstage in one of her lavish numbers. Perhaps he set his paints up in the standing room of the house; he seems to have had a view of the entire stage from the center. And what a stage it was, with gartered legs in high-heeled shoes constituting the legs, as they are actually called, dividing the wings, and stars, appropriately, on the teaser above. It was a big hit, for reasons we can surmise.

Bidders were not receptive to Marsh's work at the May 15 sale of American Art. The unsold piece, estimated at $40,000 to $60,000, can now be purchased for just $18,750 but only for the next two days.