![Guy Pène du Bois, ‘Bus Top [On Top of the Bus]’, 1924, Painting, Oil on panel, Doyle](https://d32dm0rphc51dk.cloudfront.net/Di7V8WqzII9Vv0GFTjFhoA/large.jpg)
Guy Pène du Bois
Bus Top [On Top of the Bus], 1924
This striking composition of two young women riding on the upper tier of a double-decker bus …

Named for his father’s friend, author Guy de Maupassant, Guy Pène du Bois was raised among the cultural elite, who would become a frequent subject of his work. In 1899, he entered the New York School of Art; there, he learned his loose, gestural handling of paint from William Merritt Chase, while Robert Henri inspired him to work from contemporary life. A keen social observer, he deftly captured the pretensions and preoccupations of the day with gentle irony in his simplified, stylized figures. Active in the New York art scene in the early 20th century, he was a member of the Society of Independent Artists and the Whitney Studio Club, as well as a teacher at the Art Students League and critic. On du Bois’ death, Edward Hopper wrote, “He certainly was the best friend I had in art.”
![Guy Pène du Bois, ‘Bus Top [On Top of the Bus]’, 1924, Painting, Oil on panel, Doyle](https://d32dm0rphc51dk.cloudfront.net/Di7V8WqzII9Vv0GFTjFhoA/large.jpg)
This striking composition of two young women riding on the upper tier of a double-decker bus epitomizes the work of Guy Pene du Bois in the 1920s. Rendered in the artist's mature style, these fashionably attired flappers are lost in thought, isolated although they appear to be traveling together. They wear …

Named for his father’s friend, author Guy de Maupassant, Guy Pène du Bois was raised among the cultural elite, who would become a frequent subject of his work. In 1899, he entered the New York School of Art; there, he learned his loose, gestural handling of paint from William Merritt Chase, while Robert Henri inspired him to work from contemporary life. A keen social observer, he deftly captured the pretensions and preoccupations of the day with gentle irony in his simplified, stylized figures. Active in the New York art scene in the early 20th century, he was a member of the Society of Independent Artists and the Whitney Studio Club, as well as a teacher at the Art Students League and critic. On du Bois’ death, Edward Hopper wrote, “He certainly was the best friend I had in art.”