AFA Summer 2020

Summer 96 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com which presents the creatures in a ferocious combat. This screen was featured in a 1929 House and Gardens article alongside zebra patterned textiles and earthenware sculptures, the graphic black and white patterns being distinctly modern. Equally dramatic, Tiger Screen (Fig. 9) is characteristic of Chanler’s favored technique, which involved richly built up layers of gesso finished with complex glazes of paint and metallic leaf. It’s a prime example of Chanler’s ability to create two vastly distinct works of art that share a substrate. The dominant side features five golden tigers running with claws extended. The reverse side is dark and lacks the reflective qualities of the side featuring the tigers. A group of nude figures dance in the forest with hands in the air as moose walk through the background. Whether or not the two works were conceived of at the same time is unknown. Chanler’s most recognized work, Leopard and Deer (Fig. 10), also known as Death of the White Hart , was painted during the years of the artist’s contested divorce from opera singer and famed beauty Lina Cavalieri (1874–1944). After a long pursuit, Chanler married Cavalieri, signing a pre-nuptial agreement that relinquished much of his property and fortune to her. Chanler’s brother Archie, who had been forcibly committed to Bloomingdale Hospital in 1897 for mental instability, famously cabled Chanler “Who’s loony now?” upon learning of the arrangement. The tumultuous marriage dissolved quickly, Chanler personifying Cavalieri and himself as Leopard and Deer respectively. Peacocks, birds of paradise, and flamingos were reoccurring subject matter. As Narodny noted, “Not satisfied with what Fig. 8: Robert Winthrop Chanler (1872–1930), Fighting Zebras, 1926. Screen, Oil on panel. Collection of Carol Taylor Gray, Florida. Photograph by T. Whitney Cox.