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Leading Ladies, Leading Men
Lot 31
A Paul Lewis Clemens (1911-1992) Oil Painting Portrait of Eleanor Parker.
4 – 14 June 2024, 12:00 PDT
Online, Los AngelesSold for US$2,240 inc. premium
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A Paul Lewis Clemens (1911-1992) Oil Painting Portrait of Eleanor Parker.
Oil on canvas, framed.
Depicting the artist's wife, Eleanor Parker, during early pregnancy with her son, Paul Clemens.
Paul Lewis Clemens (1911-1992) had a notable career as a painter, specifically as a celebrated painter of film stars. Having settled in California, he began an association with Life magazine, painting many portraits of the film stars of the day to accompany profiles in the magazine. Some notable sitters include Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra, and others. Clemens' fame grew and in 1942, the Durand Ruel Galleries mounted a solo show of his paintings, the first for an American artist since 1895. Through their mutual friendship with William Holden, Clemens met the actress Eleanor Parker, who became his second wife and whom he painted several times throughout their marriage. His work had the romantic ambiance, delicate hues and luminous quality of the 19th century French painters and critics often referred to Clemens as "the American Renoir."
If an audience is able to get past her spectacular beauty, actress Eleanor Parker's enormous talent will successfully distract them. And distract them she did in her five-decade career during the Golden Age of Hollywood; so much so that she earned the nickname, "Woman of a Thousand Faces." Her journey in the entertainment industry began in the early 1940s, and over the course of her career, she earned critical acclaim and multiple award nominations for her versatile roles. Her multifaceted performance in the 1950 film, Caged, in which she transforms from a wrongly accused gentle young woman into a hardened product of the penal system is one of the strongest presentations given by an actress in the annals of film. One of Eleanor Parker's most celebrated performances is in the beloved 1965 musical, The Sound of Music. In the film, she portrayed Baroness Elsa von Schraeder, a sophisticated and elegant woman entangled in a love triangle with Captain von Trapp and governess Maria. Parker's performance is unique in that she portrayed what would otherwise have been a villainess as a vulnerable, sympathetic, and hence, more realistic and memorable character. Her on-screen presence contributed to the film's enduring popularity. Throughout her career, Eleanor received three Academy Award® nominations for Best Actress, and in her later years, she appeared regularly on episodic television. In 1969, Parker appeared in a film called Eye of the Cat in which she played a wheelchair-bound woman who loses control and is slowly rolling backward down a steep sidewalk towards major traffic. Though considered somewhat campy today (it can often be seen on Instagram), it continues to instill fear and sweaty palms when viewed, in large part because of Parker's authentic performance; she had the talent to transcend camp! Bonhams is proud to offer these personal items from the estate of one of Hollywood's most charismatic leading ladies.
Provenance: Directly from Eleanor Parker's son, actor, writer, and artist Paul Day Clemens.
29 x 32.5 in.
Depicting the artist's wife, Eleanor Parker, during early pregnancy with her son, Paul Clemens.
Paul Lewis Clemens (1911-1992) had a notable career as a painter, specifically as a celebrated painter of film stars. Having settled in California, he began an association with Life magazine, painting many portraits of the film stars of the day to accompany profiles in the magazine. Some notable sitters include Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra, and others. Clemens' fame grew and in 1942, the Durand Ruel Galleries mounted a solo show of his paintings, the first for an American artist since 1895. Through their mutual friendship with William Holden, Clemens met the actress Eleanor Parker, who became his second wife and whom he painted several times throughout their marriage. His work had the romantic ambiance, delicate hues and luminous quality of the 19th century French painters and critics often referred to Clemens as "the American Renoir."
If an audience is able to get past her spectacular beauty, actress Eleanor Parker's enormous talent will successfully distract them. And distract them she did in her five-decade career during the Golden Age of Hollywood; so much so that she earned the nickname, "Woman of a Thousand Faces." Her journey in the entertainment industry began in the early 1940s, and over the course of her career, she earned critical acclaim and multiple award nominations for her versatile roles. Her multifaceted performance in the 1950 film, Caged, in which she transforms from a wrongly accused gentle young woman into a hardened product of the penal system is one of the strongest presentations given by an actress in the annals of film. One of Eleanor Parker's most celebrated performances is in the beloved 1965 musical, The Sound of Music. In the film, she portrayed Baroness Elsa von Schraeder, a sophisticated and elegant woman entangled in a love triangle with Captain von Trapp and governess Maria. Parker's performance is unique in that she portrayed what would otherwise have been a villainess as a vulnerable, sympathetic, and hence, more realistic and memorable character. Her on-screen presence contributed to the film's enduring popularity. Throughout her career, Eleanor received three Academy Award® nominations for Best Actress, and in her later years, she appeared regularly on episodic television. In 1969, Parker appeared in a film called Eye of the Cat in which she played a wheelchair-bound woman who loses control and is slowly rolling backward down a steep sidewalk towards major traffic. Though considered somewhat campy today (it can often be seen on Instagram), it continues to instill fear and sweaty palms when viewed, in large part because of Parker's authentic performance; she had the talent to transcend camp! Bonhams is proud to offer these personal items from the estate of one of Hollywood's most charismatic leading ladies.
Provenance: Directly from Eleanor Parker's son, actor, writer, and artist Paul Day Clemens.
29 x 32.5 in.
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