'Savoy Ballroom' Uses Novel Technique to Capture Action at Historic Harlem Hot Spot

A reproduction of "Savoy Ballroom" by Reginald Marsh is on display through September at Scotia Park.

It is one of five artworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts on display this summer throughout Huntington Woods as part of the fourth annual Inside|Out program.

"Reginald Marsh shows everyone in Harlem's premier 1930s hot spot doing the Lindy Hop – the club's signature dance," the DIA says. "It's not just Marsh's curving, swaying lines that practically swing you into the mix. Warm tones bounce and vibrate against cool ones, keeping your eyes constantly moving."

Marsh, an American artist who was born in France and graduated from Yale University, was known for his depictions of New York City, according britannica.com.

He used a technique called tempera to create "Savoy Ballroom."

"Mixing egg yolks with pigments, tempera was popular in the Early Renaissance when artists used the fast-drying paint to create opaque, brightly colored images," according to The New York Sun. "Marsh, an accomplished draftsman who worked as an illustrator for The New York Daily News and The New Yorker, struggled with oil paint. Using tempera in transparent washes of dulled color, Marsh layered his graphic strokes, a method all his own."

[Read: Your Guide to DIA Inside|Out Exhibit in Huntington Woods]

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