The Show Girl in Silent Movies and Fine Art

Fascinating online lecture from Courtauld Research Forum comparing the imagery in a specific silent move to the fine art of the time.

Katherine Manthorne, of City University of New York, took Lois Weber’s “Shoes” from 1916 and compared the imagery and story telling to the work of painters of the time such as the Ashcan School. She looked at four themes shop girls, shoes, street life and how the film engaged all the senses.

The film followed Eve, a shop girl, whose shoes are worn out. She walks past new shoes in the shop window each day while stuffing her own with cardboard to try to keep them watertight. She eventually turn to Charlie, a night club singer, to provide the money for the shoes in turn for services rendered. Weber use movies as social commentary and to try to bring about social change.

I loved the way Manthorne also looked at the fine art of the time and how the painters were picking up on similar subjects. She introduced me to some artists I’d not come across before including John Sloane and Elizabeth Sparhawk-Jones who I’ll definitely be looking out for in the future.