The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of April 25, 2024
Coney Island Beach
1935
(American, 1898–1954)
Gift of George W. Sanford 1938.232
© Estate of Reginald Marsh / Art Students League, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New
York
Catalogue raisonné: Sasowsky 159
Location: not on view
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.- Urban Vicissitudes. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-September 29, 1985).
- {{cite web|title=Coney Island Beach|url=false|author=Reginald Marsh|year=1935|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1938.232