Zorach’s The Picnic looks like a happy picnic. A family has motored to the country and settled on a hillside for a relaxing afternoon.
In the foreground, a woman in a red sweater is reclining. Behind her, the mother, a woman in blue, is unpacking food, a man with a camera, and children playing. But the woman in blue is, and sheish with a man, presumably the father. Off to the side, a man stands photographing the farm below. Children climb in trees.
It all looks happy, but there is some underlying tension. Zorach has painted herself as the woman in the red sweater, and Edith Halbert, her gallery agent, is the woman in blue. The identities of the men and children are uncertain.
Featured Image: Marguerite Zorach. The Picnic (1928). Oil on canvas. Private collection.