Paul Jenkins Masquerading as King Lear for a Halloween Party at The Artists' Club
Artist
Arthur Swoger
(American, 1901–2000)
Printerprinted by
Arthur Swoger
(American, 1901–2000)
Publisherpublished by
Arthur Swoger
(American, 1901–2000)
Date1958
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionssheet: 25.4 x 20.2 cm (10 x 7 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustin S. Garver Fund
Terms
Object number2003.34
Label TextAround 1940 Swoger moved to Greenwich Village to establish himself as a freelance photographer. In off hours he went to the neighborhood Cedar Tavern, and joined the circle of painters who relaxed there. Swoger made covert photographs of these “New York School” artists wherever they gathered.
One of these places was the storied “Club” on Ninth Street, where the artists met for conversation that sometimes devolved into alcohol-fueled argument. This is a portrait of the pour-and-drip painter Paul Jenkins (1923–2012), who called himself an “abstract phenomenist.” From the 1960s onward, the titles of his paintings all began with the word “Phenomena.”
Provenancethe artists' estate, purchased from his widow, Rachael Swoger, Providence, R. I.On View
Not on view
