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Chester A. Dames: Harlem to Cambridge features sixteen paintings produced between the late l930s and the mid-l940s by this little known artist of the Harlem Renaissance and American realist. Chester A. Dames was born in Key West, Florida, into a family of Trinidadian back-ground at the turn of the 20th century. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee. He was also a certified dental technician.

While a young man, to came to New York’s Harlem where he studied for several years with Sameul Brecher who had a close relationship with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Brecher, Austrian by birth, was a graduate from Cooper Union and had also studied at the National Academy of Design in New York, as well as with Charles W. Hawthrone in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Brecher’s friends included Raphael Soyer, Walt Kuhn, Reginald Marsh and other American realists sometimes associated with the Fourteenth Street group.

Dames was a careful student of Brecher’s and his work compared favorably with that of his teacher. In the late 1930s and early 40s, Dames was associated with the Tricker Gallery and ACA Galleries. His paintings drew favorable citations in the New York Times, New York Herald and several other arts publications. Dames operated a restaurant in Harlem and is said to have also been a bartender for another Harlem establishment. These experiences may be reflected in several of his works that feature nightlife scenes. It is also evidence that he was active in the commercial art making black and white advertising graphics, although this dimension of his work remains unexplored. In short, there is a story to be revealed about this very interesting African American realist and his art during the second quarter of the 20th century

At some point after World War II, he moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he painted several subjects related to sports at Harvard University.

Works in the exhibition include:

Old Timer, nd
oil on canvas

The sitter is an unidentified gentleman observed passing time with a nearby bottle of wine. Wine appears in many of Dames’ works.

Checker Players, nd
oil on canvas

Dames was born in Trinidad. He would most likely have come to New York aboard a ship. The checker players are on board a ship as indicated by the port hole window in the upper right corner.

Still life with a plant, and wine
oil on canvas

The Nude, l943
oil on canvas

This dramatic nude is presented in an elaborate setting with French doors and curtains. The emphatic treatment of her muscles and the elongation of the figure tends toward abstraction.

Still life with fish, nd
oil on canvas

Portrait of a woman, nd
oil on canvas

Dames’ sitter is almost certainly his wife, Beatrice. Until some of his mid-1940s works, here his brushwork is quite free, preserving a feeling of spontaniety akin to that of a snapshot.

Jim Tree (Man playing a horn), nd
oil on canvas

Dames was fond of nightlife, and often painted figures from the Harlem entertainment world. Trumpeter Jim Tree, in his formal ware, was such a character.

Backyard, 1942
oil on canvas

A slice of life, Dames shows an early evening scene of neighbor folk chatting through a window and otherwise just passing time.

Shoeshine boy, nd
oil on canvas

The pensive mood of this man is emphasized by the way that Dames’ has shaded his face and turned him so that he does not engage the viewer.

Amsterdam Avenue at 154th Street, nd
oil on canvas

This painting is in the finest tradition of American cityscapes of the 1930s and 1940s. Set at night, one views the street corner from high up, perhaps from an apartment window.

Woman at the bar, 1945
oil on canvas

This work is full of mystery. It raises many questions. Is the woman white? Is the bar, unlike  “The Night Club,” a setting outside of Harlem? Is she an entertainer or celebrity, as might be inferred from the man who is retrieving her fur stole? Is she a harlot? Is her mood “blue” as she smokes and drinks? What is the meaning of the glance by the man with the red tie?

Still life with fruit and vegetables, nd
oil on canvas

A still life is a composition of objects set and rendered by an artist for the delight that it offers.

Woman in green shawl, 1941
oil on canvas

The unidentified woman depicted here is outfitted for an evening. Perhaps she frequented the bar where Dames worked

Window, l942
oil on canvas

In this view from a window, Dames has expressed his interest in still life subjects with the flower in the foreground, as well as his delight painting neighborhood vistas and scenes.

Still life with shoes, nd
oil on canvas

What happened here? What would otherwise be a quiet still life has been turned into a puzzle. What should we make of his and her shoes? How should we understand the spilled wine and the twisted table cloth? Was it a case of “hurry” or was it a fight?

The Night Club, nd
oil on canvas

Sometimes also exhibited as “The Circle Bar”, the painting recalls that Dames was also a bartender. Here he recreates a night scene typical of the era with a singer accompanied by a pianist on the left, a couple dancing, several couples conversing at the bar, and a pair of elegant figures, each smoking, entering from the right. The woman with the red dress is his wife, Beatrice, who also appears in “Portrait of a woman” which is part of this exhibition.

Pauline, nd
oil on canvas

Pauline is an enigmatic figure staring down on the street below from her perch at an upstairs apartment window. A cigarette is casually held in between her fingers.  Her outfit is uncharac-teristically masculine, and something in her overall manner suggests that perhaps she is gay woman.

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