id: 157043 accession number: 1993.186 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1993.186 updated: 2023-03-14 12:01:51.153000 Coney Island Beach, 1934. Reginald Marsh (American, 1898–1954). Etching; platemark: 24.7 x 24.7 cm (9 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.); sheet: 33 x 40.4 cm (13 x 15 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Charlotte Trenkamp in memory of Henry Trenkamp, Jr. 1993.186 © Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York title: Coney Island Beach title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1934 creation date earliest: 1934 creation date latest: 1934 current location: creditline: Gift of Charlotte Trenkamp in memory of Henry Trenkamp, Jr. copyright: © Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York --- culture: America, 20th century technique: etching department: Prints collection: PR - Etching type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Sasowsky 153 --- CREATORS * Reginald Marsh (American, 1898–1954) - artist --- measurements: Platemark: 24.7 x 24.7 cm (9 3/4 x 9 3/4 in.); Sheet: 33 x 40.4 cm (13 x 15 7/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940 opening date: 2021-07-18T04:00:00 Ashcan School Prints and the American City, 1900-1940. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 18-December 26, 2021). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: Coney Island, located on an Atlantic Ocean beach in the borough of Brooklyn, became a resort for urban inhabitants in 1875, when the railroad opened regular service to the outer borough. digital description: No corner of New York City escaped Reginald Marsh’s observation, but his favorite subject was the beach of Coney Island, where, he said, “a million near-naked bodies could be seen at once, a phenomenon unparalleled in history.” The human pyramids in both of these compositions imply ample physical touching, and, indeed, critics described Marsh’s beach crowds as “vulgar, sweating, bestial.” The toppled pyramids and twisting forms recall Renaissance paintings, such as Michelangelo’s Battle of Cascina from 1504. Unlike Michelangelo, however, Marsh tended to focus on the buxom siren or femme fatale, a trope of Hollywood cinema in the 1930s. wall description: No corner of New York City escaped Reginald Marsh’s observation, but his favorite subject was the beach of Coney Island, where, he said, “a million near-naked bodies could be seen at once, a phenomenon unparalleled in history.” The human pyramids in both of these compositions imply ample physical touching, and, indeed, critics described Marsh’s beach crowds as “vulgar, sweating, bestial.” The toppled pyramids and twisting forms recall Renaissance paintings, such as Michelangelo’s Battle of Cascina from 1504. Unlike Michelangelo, however, Marsh tended to focus on the buxom siren or femme fatale, a trope of Hollywood cinema in the 1930s. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES