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Lot Essay
Although Reginald Marsh was born in Europe he spent the majority of his career in New York City and is best known for his pictures of urban life. After graduation from Yale University in 1920, Marsh began his training at the New York Art Students League. Here he studied with two urban realists who had great impact on his work, John Sloan and Kenneth Hayes Miller.
Marsh was drawn to all aspects of human existence in New York. The artist habitually carried a sketchbook in which he recorded the vast array of people who filled the streets day and night. Marsh loved human activity--from the bustle of the street to the leisure of the beach--and the artist excelled at portraying urban city life.
Coney Island was a favorite subject for Marsh. In fact, the artist once remarked of the beach scene: "A million near-naked bodies can be seen at once, a phenomenon unparalleled in history."(Reginald Marsh , pg. 38) The beach offered the artist a chance to study the human figure in a variety of forms and poses. Although the great masters like Titian, Michaelangelo, Rubens and da Vinci influenced Marsh's use of the human form, his figures became stylized and by no means ideal.
In Marsh's tempera, Coney Island Beach No. 2 several beach goers lounge and posture, bodies touching, crowding and seemingly stacked upon one another. It can be said that Marsh's art reflects the phenomena of the ever increasing population and growth of New York City at the time it was painted.
Marsh was drawn to all aspects of human existence in New York. The artist habitually carried a sketchbook in which he recorded the vast array of people who filled the streets day and night. Marsh loved human activity--from the bustle of the street to the leisure of the beach--and the artist excelled at portraying urban city life.
Coney Island was a favorite subject for Marsh. In fact, the artist once remarked of the beach scene: "A million near-naked bodies can be seen at once, a phenomenon unparalleled in history."(Reginald Marsh , pg. 38) The beach offered the artist a chance to study the human figure in a variety of forms and poses. Although the great masters like Titian, Michaelangelo, Rubens and da Vinci influenced Marsh's use of the human form, his figures became stylized and by no means ideal.
In Marsh's tempera, Coney Island Beach No. 2 several beach goers lounge and posture, bodies touching, crowding and seemingly stacked upon one another. It can be said that Marsh's art reflects the phenomena of the ever increasing population and growth of New York City at the time it was painted.