My uncle Abe Ginsberg, Daughters of Israel Geriatric Facility, West Orange, New Jersey, April 13, 1986. He was too weak to sip from a straw. He lifted his hand as I stood at the foot of the bed with camera. He died a week and half later. He had whispered, “I love you” when I first came in his room.

1986

Allen Ginsberg

Associated Names
Allen Ginsberg

Artist, American, 1926 - 1997

The image shows the upper half of a man lying in a bed, covered with a blanket up to his chest. He is positioned slightly propped up against the headboard, with his left arm resting on the bed and his right arm raised in the air. The man has a gaunt face with deep-set eyes and high cheekbones, and his hair is combed back. He is wearing what appears to be hospital attire or a simple shirt. On his left wrist, he is wearing a bracelet. The background consists of a plain wall paneling. At the bottom, there is a handwritten note.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gary S. Davis

  • Dimensions

    image: 27.5 x 18.5 cm (10 13/16 x 7 5/16 in.)
    sheet: 35.3 x 28 cm (13 7/8 x 11 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2009.103.25

  • 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. 77.

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower right on sheet in black ink: Allen Ginsberg; artist inscription, across bottom under image: My uncle Abe Ginsberg, Daughters of Israel Geriatric Facility, West Orange, New Jersey, April 13, 1986. He was too weak to sip through a straw. He lifted his hand as I stood at the foot of the bed with camera. He died a week and half later. He had whispered "I love you" when I first came in his room.; on verso, by unknown hand, in upper left corner: #43 VE; across upper centre: 81; across center: page 55; in upper right corner: #74 [inscribed in a circle]; across lower center: 63 [inscribed in a circle] 558/ 18304 O.K. 4/17/86 OM25 Neg #17; along lower edge center: GD-AG-309; across lower right: BK8 #22 GDC-621 50

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