William Burroughs listening to new poetry-music tapes I'd made with Elvin Jones. We were staying in adjoining apartments at Varsity Townhouses, rented for the Summer session of Naropa Institute's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Colorado. We'd come every year since 1974, along with Peter Orlovsky, & Gregory Corso as frequent visitor. Anne Waldman & I co-directed the Buddhist-oriented poetry section. July 1984.

1984, printed 1990

Allen Ginsberg

Associated Names
Allen Ginsberg

Artist, American, 1926 - 1997

The image shows a seated man from the waist up, positioned slightly to the side in a chair. He has distinct facial features including pronounced cheekbones, a lined forehead, and short, sparse hair. He is wearing a button-up shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a tie, and is seated in a relaxed posture with one arm resting on a nearby circular table. He wears large over-ear headphones, with a wire trailing downward. The background is plain with a smooth, muted gradient fill, and the image is in black and white.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gary S. Davis

  • Dimensions

    image: 28.1 x 18.5 cm (11 1/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
    sheet: 42 x 31 cm (16 9/16 x 12 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2008.131.29


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Allen Ginsberg Estate; Ellen and Gary Davis, Greenwich, CT (through Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York); gift to NGA, 2008.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower right on sheet in black ink: Allen Ginsberg; artist inscription, across bottom under image: William Burroughs listening to new poetry-music tapes I'd made with Elvin Jones. We were staying in adjoining apartments at Varsity Townhouses, rented for the Summer session of Naropa Institute's Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Colorado. We'd come every year since 1974, along with Peter Orlovsky, & Gregory Corso as frequent visitor. Anne Waldman & I co-directed the Buddhist-oriented poetry section. July 1984.; on verso, by artist's hand, upper center in graphite: July 1984 / Print SK 9/30/90 / Signed 10/1/90 AG / 205/8954


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