Coney Island, NY

1947–48

Not on view

Co-founder of the left leaning Photo League in the 1930s, Grossman is perhaps the crucial link between socially concerned photography of the 1930s and the so-called "New York School" of street photographers who emerged after World War II (Grossman served as a photographer in the US Army). This work is from his seminal series devoted to beachgoers at Coney Island. It was at Coney Island that Grossman moved in closer to his subjects and sacrificed traditionally balanced composition for off-kilter framing; the results are by turns balletic and ebullient or, as in this image, sensual and mysterious. The "bubble" at center (from a toxic novelty toy of the time that yielded longer lasting bubbles) is presented to the viewer like a crystal ball or memento mori--a time-sensitive offering highlighting photography's purchase on the fleeting and evanescent.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Exhibition History

Title: Coney Island, NY
Artist: Sid Grossman (American, 1913–1955)
Date: 1947–48
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 8 3/4 × 7 5/8 in. (22.2 × 19.4 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2017
Object Number: 2017.189
Rights and Reproduction: © Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By Sid Grossman

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Seagulls, Sid Grossman American, Gelatin silver print — Seagulls
Sid Grossman
1949

Coney Island, Sid Grossman American, Gelatin silver print — Coney Island
Sid Grossman
1947

[Fruit and Vegetable Sellers, Guatemala], Sid Grossman American, Gelatin silver print — [Fruit and Vegetable Sellers, Guatemala]
Sid Grossman
ca. 1943

[Group of Teenagers on a Stoop, New York], Sid Grossman American, Gelatin silver print — [Group of Teenagers on a Stoop, New York]
Sid Grossman
ca. 1948

[Sailors and Pedestrians Outside of a Restaurant, New York], Sid Grossman American, Gelatin silver print — [Sailors and Pedestrians Outside of a Restaurant, New York]
Sid Grossman
1939

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