George Tilyou’s Steeplechase

Reginald Marsh, George Tilyou's Steeplechase, 1932, oil and egg tempera on linen mounted on fiberboard, 30 ¹⁄₈ x 40 ¹⁄₈ in. (76.5 x 101.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation, 1986.6.60

Artwork Details

Title: George Tilyou’s Steeplechase
Artist: Reginald Marsh
Date: 1932
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 30 ¹⁄₈ x 40 ¹⁄₈ in. (76.5 x 101.8 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Sara Roby Foundation
Mediums: oil
tempera
Mediums Description: oil and egg tempera on linen mounted on fiberboard
Classifications: Painting
Subjects: Figure group
Recreation — sport and play — racing
Architecture Exterior — commercial — recreation
Object Number: 1986.6.60
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1986.6.60

Artwork Description

Steeplechase Park was one of three amusement parks at Coney Island in Brooklyn. Here Marsh showed a couple astride one of the mechanical horses that raced around the Pavilion of Fun on iron rails that, in places, were as high as thirty-five feet above the ground. The nested bodies of the sailor and the girl exude the passion of young love, although the strained expression on the woman’s face may signal the transience of their affection.

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Exhibitions

Media - 1986.6.100 - SAAM-1986.6.100_2 - 135134

Modern American Realism: Highlights from the Sara Roby Foundation Collection

Smithsonian American Art Museum

This exhibition presents some of the most treasured paintings and sculpture from SAAM’s permanent collection, including artworks by Will Barnet, Isabel Bishop, Paul Cadmus, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, George Tooker, among others.