Reginald Marsh

Reginald Marsh, 1898 – 1954 Monseigneur News Theatre, 1925 Signed and dated at lower right: 'Reginald Marsh 1925' Watercolor on card 8 x 11 inches Born in Paris to parents who were American artists, Reginald Marsh became an adept illustrator at an early age. His family returned to the United States in 1900. Upon graduating from Yale University, Marsh moved to New York and in 1922 took a job as an illustrator at the New York Daily News. For the paper he provided cartoons of vaudeville and burlesque shows. In 1925 Marsh went to work for a new magazine -- The New Yorker -- as one of its original cartoonists. That same year he married Betty Burroughs, daughter of the paintings curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Later that year they traveled to Europe where Marsh discovered the work of the old masters at the Louvre in Paris and British museums. With a sketchbook always on hand, he wandered the streets of Europe and began depicting bums or what he called figures of failure. Upon the couple’s return, Marsh, now with a serious interest in pursuing art, enrolled at the Art Students League where he studied under George Luks, John Sloan, and Kenneth Hayes Miller. This work, Monseigneur News Theatre, is accompanied by a letter from Marsh Scholar Professor Norman Sasowsky, University of Delaware...

A fantastic example of Marsh’s renowned depictions of ladies walking in downtown Manhattan. This richly worked ink and wash composition captures a sidewalk populated by stylish women...

Reginald Marsh (1898-1934), Tattoo-Shave-Haircut, etching, 1932. Signed, titled (“Tattoo-Haircut-Shave”), dedicated (“for Arnold Newman”), and annotated (“Fourth State. First of Two Prints”). Reference: Sasowsky 140. On cream wove paper. In very good condition, with small margins (as trimmed, slightly irregularly, by the artist) (slight foxing in margins), remains of prior hinging verso; 9 7/8 x 9 3/4, the sheet 10 15/16 x 10 5/8 inches; archival matting. A very fine rich black impression; we have not seen impressions of comparable quality on the market. Provenance: Estate of Arnold Newman. Arnold Newman (1918-2006) was one of the great 20th Century masters of photography, and a friend of many leading artists; it is appears that Marsh took special care in printing this impression for Newman. Sasowsky calls for 10 states of Tattoo-Shave, based largely on Marsh’s notes. But the states are not clearly delineated (e.g., his States 3 and 4, one proof each, are characterized by Marsh as “Engraving added”; no information is given for State 5). The design for the print was complete in the first state, and subsequent state changes were not, apparently, major. This impression does not appear to differ in etching lines from the final state impression shown in Sasowsky. Its inscription (as a Fourth State, by Marsh), as well as its rich inking and quality, attest to its being a proof before the edition (of about 34 impressions), but the state of this print (and, presumably of many of the other several proof impressions) cannot at this time be stated with confidence. Marsh printed this impression personally (we recall his famous answer to a question about the size of his editions: “Since I do practically all my own printing, I do not limit the edition. The buyer limits the edition – he rarely buys, I rarely print”). Tattoo-Shave-Haircut depicts a scene in the Bowery, a section of New York’s Lower East Side, during the Great Depression. The building and train structures in the top half of the print recall Piranesi’s Carceri...

Reginald Marsh, 'Erie R.R. Locos Watering (Locomotives Watering)', etching, 1934, edition 100 (Whitney, 1969), Sasowsky 155. Unsigned as published; numbered '68/100' in pencil. A su...

Irving Place Burlesque Etching, 1930 Unsigned (as usual for the Whitney edition) Numbered in pencil lower left Blind stamp of the Whitney Museum (WM) lower right From: Reginald Marsh...

Gaiety Burlesque Etching, 1930 Unsigned (as usual for the Whitney edition); Numbered in pencil lower left; Blind stamp of the Whitney Museum (WM) lower right Edition: 114, regular ed...

Marsh, Reginald. TWO GIRLS IN SUBWAY. S.58. Etching, 1928. Printed on cream-colored wove paper, with a watermark, upper left. One of only two proofs of ...

Reginald Marsh Tugboat at Dock, circa 1937 Signed lower right Watercolor and pencil on paper 13 3/4 x 20 inches Housed in a Lowy frame. Provenance: Sotheby'...