Young men voting for their favorite work in the exhibition Portrait of America, September 30-November 5, 1945 (Photograph from the Studio of Wm. Langley)
In 1945 the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts was the seventh venue for the 150-painting traveling exhibition Portrait of America, sponsored by “Artists for Victory” and the Pepsi-Cola Company. The museum invited Dallasites to vote for their favorite work in the exhibition. The winner of the vote was Gladys Rockmore Davis’s Noel with Violin; she was awarded $100 by the manager of the local Pepsi-Cola Company bottling plant.
The DMA is once again asking you to pick your favorite, this time in the Museum’s first Art Madness tournament, inspired by the NCAA Championship game, which will take place in North Texas this April. DMA Friends are currently determining the Sweet Sixteen by participating in the DMA Friends Love a Work of Art activity. Once we have the 16 works determined in late February, the public can vote for their favorites online. Stay tuned for more information on how you can help pick the first DMA Art Madness Champion!
Hillary Bober is the digital archivist at the DMA.
