Jack Kerouac at Staten Island Ferry Wharf, we used to wander docksides under Manhattan’s bridges & thru truck parking lots along East River singing rawbone Blues, Leadbelly’s “Black Girl” or “Eli Eli,” chanting Poe’s “Annabelle Lee” & shouting Hart Crane’s “O Harp & Altar of the Fury fused!” or “Atlantis” to Brooklyn Bridge’s traffic spanned above. Time of his Doctor Sax & The Subterraneans, Burroughs was in town, up from Mexico, New York, Fall 1953.

1953, printed later

Allen Ginsberg

Associated Names
Allen Ginsberg

Artist, American, 1926 - 1997

The image depicts the upper half of a man's body from the shoulders up. He is turned slightly to the side, with a contemplative expression. The man has distinct facial features, including a pronounced jawline. His dark hair is neatly combed back. He is dressed in a collared coat with a checkered pattern underneath. The background features a large wooden fence or wall, with the sky faintly visible above it. Some small objects or structures are visible above the wall. Handwritten text is included at the bottom of the image.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gary S. Davis

  • Dimensions

    image: 27.31 x 41.91 cm (10 3/4 x 16 1/2 in.)
    sheet: 40.5 x 50.5 cm (15 15/16 x 19 7/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2009.108.3

  • Copyright

    Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Allen Ginsberg Estate; Ellen and Gary Davis, Greenwich, CT (through Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York); gift to NGA, 2009.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2010

  • Beat Memories: The Photographs of Allen Ginsberg, National Gallery of Art, Washington; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Grey Art Gallery & Study Center, New York University, New York; The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, 2010 - 2013, no. 48.

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower right on sheet in black ink: Allen Ginsberg; artist inscription, across bottom under image: Jack Kerouac at Statin Island Ferry Wharf, we used to wander docksides under Manhatten's bridges & thru truck parking lots along East River singing rawbone Blues, Leadbelly's "Black Girl" or "Eli Eli," chanting Poe's "Annabelle Lee" & shouting Hart Crane's "O Harp & Altar of the Fury fused!" or "Atlantis" to Brooklyn Bridge's traffic spanned above. Time of his Doctor Sax & The Subterraneans, Burroughs was in town, up from Mexico, New York, Fall 1953.

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