#eugeneberman secret conversation 1968

#EugeneBerman
Sunset (Medusa), (1945)

Russian-born American painter and theatre designer Eugene Berman crowns the head of his muse and future wife, Hollywood actress Ona Munson, with an explosive fireball in this fantastical portrait of her as a mythical figure amidst a fantastical, almost apocalyptic landscape. Tattered drapery in red, blue, and yellow cascades off a dilapidated and patched wooden structure. Bits of shell and rock litter the ground and tabletop, where Munson leans, oblivious to the devastation around her. In Berman’s paintings of ancient heroines including Cassandra, for which Munson modeled, the leading lady is typically depicted with her back to the viewer or face obscured. In this case, Munson is shown defiantly in profile, eyes coyly downcast, and long blonde hair loose over her exposed back. Munson starred in 9 Broadway productions and 20 feature films in her career, which spanned over 30 years. Born Owena Elizabeth Wolcott and raised in Portland, Oregon, she began her stage career in New York theater in 1919, debuting on Broadway in "George White's Scandals." By 1930, she moved to Los Angeles and Hollywood. Her most famous role is likely in David O. Selznick's 1939 masterpiece "Gone with the Wind" as madam Belle Watling. This painting is from the early 1940s; however, Munson didn't marry Berman until 1950. He was her 2nd husband after a 5-year marriage to American movie director Edward Buzzell. She also had several documented affairs with women, including Russian-American actress Alla Nazimova and American playwright Mercedes de Acosta. Eugène Berman and his brother Leonid were Russian Neo-romantic painters and theater and opera designers. They fled the Russian Revolution in 1918 to Europe and then arrived in New York in 1935. He became famous for his modern art and work as a stage designer. Sadly, in 1955, Berman found Munson dead in their Manhattan apartment, having committed suicide via a barbiturate overdose. He moved to Rome and worked the remainder of his life in Italy.

"Portrait Fantasy of Ona Munson" by Eugene Berman (Russian-American) - Oil on canvas / 1941-1942 - McNay Art Museum (San Antonio, Texas) #WomenInArt #ArtText #TheMcNay #Portraitofawoman #art #EugeneBerman #Berman #OnaMunson #womensart #oilpainting #symbolism #ModernArt #McNayArtMuseum #surrealism