Alongside J.C. Leyendecker and Norman Rockwell, Stevan Dohanos is remembered as one of the most beloved and prolific illustrators for the Saturday Evening Post. His gift for capturing the nuanced details of everyday life is reflected in this charming work, entitled The Pause That Refreshes, which depicts a doctor taking a break from his practice to relax, smoke his pipe and catch up on his reading. Featured on the March 1964 cover of the medical professional magazine Medical Times, the painting embodies the remarkable photographic realism and nuance of Dohanos' oeuvre.

Dohanos, more than almost any other illustrator of his age, was extraordinarily adept at capturing the significant incidentals of his scenes. He once said, "I never begin a painting until I have complete and authentic information for a drawing, particularly because I work so realistically and there is no covering up a bit of ignorance with a careless stroke of the brush." His extensive research is evident in almost every minute detail of this charming piece. From the stacks of medical books and periodicals on the desk (on top is an issue of Medical Times) to an EKG printout, all of the elements come together to form a comprehensive narrative.

The son of Hungarian immigrants, Dohanos was born in small-town Ohio in 1907. He became fascinated at a young age with the art of illustration, and as a child he frequently copied many Rockwell pieces that he admired. A dedicated artist, he would soon become one of the greatest illustrators of his age. Dohanos was a founding member of the Famous Artists School in Westport, Connecticut, and gained fame and popularity through the more than 120 Post covers he created during the 1940s and 1950s. Today, his work can be found in such acclaimed institutions as the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum, among others, and remain highly collectible.

Circa 1964