Dance Marathon
Philip Evergood
1934
Oil on Canvas Dance Marathon is a representational oil painting of several people gathered in an enclosed area that was painted by Philip Evergood in 1934. These people are unevenly spaced apart throughout the painting, either by themselves or paired with another person. The enclosed area has bleachers surrounding the spider web-like floor that is separated by handrails. On the top left hand side of the painting there is a man who is lounging across a few rows of the bleachers. To the left of this man you see a skeleton hand that is holding a $1,000 that appears to be hanging from the ceiling with the light fixtures. In that same area on the wall there is the word “walkathon” and “first aid station” with a red cross over a doors way. To the left o the door way you see a lady that is in all white from head to toe. To the right of the doorway, there are men sitting and one man standing at a table and they are placed under a red sign that has white lettering that says “Winner takes all Couples $1000 Solo $500”. Right next to the red sign there is another sign that says “49th day” placed above a Mickey Mouse clock. The bleachers on the right hand side of the painting there is a man in a black suit sitting next to a lady in a pink dress. Below the couple, sitting on the bottom row of the bleachers is another man in a suit and a hat hanging over the handle bar. On the bottom left corner of the painting there is an arm of a woman that is wearing a spiked gold bracelet and in the right bottom corner there is the lower part of a man’s face who is smoking a cigar. The way the man, who is smoking a cigar, hands are positioned suggest that he is clapping. To see only certain body parts of the people in the bottom of the painting gives the viewer the perspective as if the viewer is in the painting themselves between the body parts. In the center on the painting, most of the people on the spider web-like floor are very muscularly built and the proportions of the body are very elongated. The largest pair of people in the center of the painting is of a woman who is all red, from her hat to her heels. She has her left arm hanging from her side and the right arm is raised above her and the man with a limp hand and her eyes are closed with her head resting on the shoulder of the man. The man, who is wearing blue pants and a red and white striped shirt topped off with a small yellow hat, is pressed against her with one hand holding the small of her back. To the bottom left of this couple there is a man wearing white pants and a long sleeve green and black striped shirt that is hunched over on the ground with one hand placed on the ground which appears to be using for support. Right above this man is another pair of people; the man is in tan pants and a blue shirt and wearing a small black top hat. The placement of his arms suggests he has them wrapped around the woman. The woman is wearing white pants with a sombrero and green heel, one of which has been kicked off on its side which implies she is has one foot exposed. She has her arms wrapped around the man. The man to the left of them is the only one who is elongated like the rest of the people on the floor. He is wearing dark violet pants, a white button down shirt and a black vest with a hat that is holding a cup and smoking a cigar. His arm is reaching behind this couple. Right behind these three people there is another pair off people where you can only see their heads, one with a white dunst hat and a red hat that is limp to the side. To the right of the pair wearing hats and the lady in white there is a single man with black pants and a white tank top that has his legs spread apart and shoulders pushed back that appears to heading in the direction of the woman in white. To the right of him there is another pair of people who the lady is wearing a black hat, white pants and green shirt that is slightly bent over and her arm placed underneath the hunched over man in black pants and red shirt and hat which suggest she is holding the man up. To the lower right of this pair of people there is a woman in a murky yellow pants, red heels, a blue tank top and a black top hat. She has one arm wrapped around the arm of the man in dark green pants and white shirt and her other arm is underneath the man armpit, which implies she is holding him up. The last person you can see in the painting is a man in black who is kneeling over what appears to be another person lying on the ground due to the way the white pants leg is positioned.