Reginald Marsh

(American, 1898–1954)

Reginald Marsh was an American painter, renowned for his depictions of New York street life throughout the Roaring 20s and the Great Depression. His busy, muddy scenes of seedy nightlife and entertainment were often the focus of his canvases, painted with the gusto and urgency of Social Realism and rendered with egg tempera, oils, watercolors, and ink. He chronicled the bustling beach scenes of Coney Island, as well as the homeless sleeping on Bowery Street, imbuing his subjects with psychological depth. “My pictures have too much shock in them for a lot of people—especially women—to hang on the walls at home,” he is reported to have said. “They don't want to be reminded in their living rooms and bedrooms of the people they see—or don't see—walking on the streets of New York.” Born on March 14, 1898 in Paris, France to American artist parents, Marsh went on to study at Yale University. Before his death in Dorset, VT on July 3, 1954, Marsh had become an important figure in New York's artistic landscape, regularly exhibiting his work in tandem with his teaching position at the Art Students League of New York, where noted Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein was one of his pupils. His colorful murals can be found on important American buildings to this day, including the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House and the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building.