George Gershwin, an American in Paris

Starting at a young age, Miguel Covarrubias published his drawings and caricatures in Mexican newspapers and books, among them Adolfo Best Maugard’s celebrated "Método de dibujo" (1923). The following year, Covarrubias moved to New York, where he became involved in the large group of Mexican artists and intellectuals living in that city. A successful illustrator and caricaturist, Covarrubias was particularly interested in documenting the flourishing jazz clubs. That was where he met George Gershwin, with whom he became close friends. In this work, the artist recreates the excitement and agitation of life in Paris. In the center of the image is the Gershwin figure, sitting at a table in a cafe,́ smoking and reading a newspaper from the United States. Crowded around him are a motley crew (a waiter, a policeman, a cabdriver, and others) as well as symbols of Paris (signs for café́ Pigalle and cabaret Folies Bergère, and an image of the Eiffel Tower). Commissioned by George Steinway & Sons, the New York-based piano makers, the painting was reproduced in advertisements in the magazines Vanity Fair, Vogue, and McCall’s.