BOIS, Guy Pène du (Brooklyn, 1884 – Boston, 1958)
Guy Pène du Bois was born in Brooklyn, New York, on 4 January 1884. He studied at the New York School of Art beginning in 1899 and was still a student there when Robert Henri joined the staff in 1902. In 1905, Du Bois went to Paris with his father where he studied at the Académie Colarossi under Steinlen. When Du Bois returned to New York in 1906, he worked as a reporter for the New York American. He was promoted to the position of art critic in 1909, a post he held until 1912. In 1911, Du Bois married Florence Sherman Duncan, and their daughter Yvonne was born in 1913. Du Bois served on the publicity committee for the 1913 Armory Show, and that year began to assist Royal Cortissoz on the New York Tribune. Du Bois’ career as an art critic was paralleled by his painting career, and in 1913 he joined the Kraushaar Gallery. The Du Bois family lived in Nutley, New Jersey, between 1914 and 1917. A son, William, was born in 1916, the year Du Bois joined the New York Post. In 1917, Du Bois exhibited at the Whitney Studio Show, and the following year he had his first one-man show there. Du Bois began teaching in 1920, first at the Art Students League and later in his studio. The Du Bois family moved to Connecticut in 1920 and then to France in 1924. In 1930, they returned, and Du Bois went back to teaching. He taught for year at the Art Students League again and in 1932 opened the Guy Pène du Bois School. In the late 1930s, he taught at the Amagansett Art School, Long Island, and at Cooper Union School of Art. Du Bois received numerous awards and honours during the 1940s. In 1951, he worked with Raphael Soyer on Reality: A Journal of Artists’ Opinions. He visited Paris with his daughter, Yvonne, for the last time in 1953, and died in Boston, Massachusetts, on 18 July 1958.
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