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Weegee
Weegee "Distortion: Stripes"

1955

$3,000
$7,20058% Off
£2,249.39
£5,398.5458% Off
€2,607.84
€6,258.8158% Off
CA$4,186.66
CA$10,047.9858% Off
A$4,676.11
A$11,222.6758% Off
CHF 2,429.85
CHF 5,831.6458% Off
MX$56,945.67
MX$136,669.6058% Off
NOK 30,864.54
NOK 74,074.9058% Off
SEK 29,083.29
SEK 69,799.9058% Off
DKK 19,457.62
DKK 46,698.2958% Off
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About the Item

Innovative, provocative, inimitable - these are just a few of the words to describe America's boldest photographer. Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee (1899-1968) was a ground-breaking, successful (and notorious) photojournalist. His images shot on the streets of New York City are iconic and influential. In the 1930s he became the first New York City press photographer to obtain permission to install a police radio in his car. This allowed him to follow the city's first responders and to document their duties; responding to fire, crime, debauchery and of course, murder. By the early 1940s Weegee was experiencing fatigue with crime reportage. Ironically, this was also the point when he finally began experiencing professional validation and acclaim, to the point of being a minor celebrity. Notably in 1941 he was included in The MoMA's seminal "50 Photographs by 50 Photographers" (curated by Edward Steichen). The museum would also acquire five Weegee photographs for their nascent collection. As the decade progressed Weegee's focus expanded, and one could argue that he began transitioning from a photojournalist to an artist. "At Eddie Condon’s in Greenwich Village" is a fine example of his transitional work. Eddie Condon was an American jazz banjoist, guitarist, and bandleader. A leading figure in the Chicago jazz scene, he also played piano and sang in New York. For most of the 20th century, Greenwich Village was known as a trendy artists’ neighborhood known for its intimate bars and nightlife. Weegee loved the nightlife and had a regular circuit on the downtown bars, clubs and cabarets. This photo is a paradigm of Weegee's eye for detail and composition. It is remarkably timeless and could easily be the 1940s or the 1970s or even today. Interestingly, Weegee would be commissioned by Vogue for a fashion editorial in 1945. A print of this image is held at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Weegee’s photography can be found in numerous museums and private collections worldwide: the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; International Center of Photography, New York and more. Questions about this piece? Contact us. USA, circa 1945 Gelatin silver print 14"H 11"W (work) 20”H 16”W (sheet) 20.5"H 17.5"W (framed) Weegee’s stamp and titled “Eddie Condons in the Village” in pencil (verso) Detailed condition report by request
  • Creator:
    Weegee (1899-1968, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1955
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 15.5 in (39.37 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Toronto, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 04-201stDibs: LU21526016622

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Weegee "A Trip to Mars"
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While many first associate Weegee (aka Arthur Fellig) with New York City crime scenes, perhaps a broader and more consistent theme is that of spectacle and/or urban entertainment. The origins of his nick-name and reputation date back to the 1930s when he became the first New York City press photographer to obtain permission to install a police radio in his car. Following the city's first responders and documenting their duties, Weegee had unprecedented access to New York’s fires, crimes, debaucheries and of course, murders. During the first decade of his career these unflinching urban tragedy or crime images paid Weegee's bills, but as he became more financially independent he was more inspired to pursue photographs on his own agenda. While his oeuvre is vast, Weegee was especially drawn to entertainment: nightlife, circuses, the theatre, showgirls, city thrills, the cinema etc. Some of Weegee's most dynamic and tender (and under-appreciated!) images are related to simply having fun (in a crowd). He was not confined to one neighbourhood or demographic. He captured action, faces and events from Coney Island to the Bowery and Greenwich Village, to Times Square and Harlem. In “A Trip To Mars,” Weegee depicts a multi-generational group crowding around a large telescope...
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1940s American Modern Black and White Photography

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Weegee "Sailor and Girl Kissing"
By Weegee
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Weegee (1899-1968) was equally fascinated and inspired by cinema and all of its tangents, from Hollywood movie stars to ordinary civilians going to the movies. While Weegee is typically associated with crime/disaster images, the broad theme of "entertainment" is a major component of his oeuvre. An interesting and provocative sub-genre of his cinema-related work are his images of couples (often heavy-petting) in movie theatres. Recent scholarship has established that many of Weegee's supposed clandestine images were actually staged or arranged with friends or co-operative strangers. Nevertheless, Weegee created these photographs in the dark with an array of clever techniques including infrared film, filtered flashbulb and triangular prism lens. Employed in shots such as this one, the prism lens would allow the artist to “see around corners,” useful at times when his subjects were in compromising locations. These images of kissing couples, Weegee wrote in 1959, were “his best seller, year in and year out.” "Sailor and GIrl at the Movies...
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