Best known for his work in the second quarter of the twentieth century, Guy Pene du Bois (1884-1958) was one of America's most stylish painters, a keen observer of the social scene around him who deftly captured the sophisticated spirit of his era with a wit both subtle and effective. His earliest works were strongly influenced by his teacher, painter Robert Henri. Inspired by Henri to paint the life he knew, Pene du Bois found his distinctive vision in the lively spectacle of human interaction.
As did many of his peers, Pene du Bois traveled to France early in his career, and the pieces he executed abroad are infused with a French spirit. He found his subjects wherever people gathered - at cafes, at the opera, in the public gardens - and when he returned to America he broadened his range of subjects to include lawyers, performers, politicians, people at the races, and visitors to art galleries and museums.
Pene du Bois was pulled in several career directions for much of his professional life, including writing and teaching. In 1924, in light of strong sales at Kraushaar Galleries, he resolved to devote himself to his art and returned to France. It was during the 1920s that he achieved the painting style for which he is best known.
The 1930s marked an impressive new monumentality in his compositions, and he received commissions to do three post office murals under the New Deal that stand today. By the end of the 1940s, the artist, once part of a rebel art movement, had become part of the old guard, dismissing the rise of the New York School as incomprehensible and without lasting substance. Yet, he remains one of the most articulate interpreters of the tradition of urban realism established by The Eight, with whose leader he had studied.

Betsy Fahlman is Professor of Art History at Arizona State University.