Bowery Barber Shop, East Side, New York City

1947

Godfrey Frankel

Associated Names
Godfrey Frankel

Artist, American, 1912 - 1995

This is a photograph of a shop window with bold and stylized text. The image displays the reflective glass of a storefront with the words "BARBER SHOP" and "TATTOOING" visible. A large numeral "4" is incorporated into the design, along with the phrase "BLACK EYES MADE LOOK NATURAL" around an illustrated eye graphic. The reflection also includes ceiling lights inside the shop. The arrangement of text and imagery, combined with the reflections, evokes a nostalgia and vintage aesthetic typical of early to mid 20th-century signage.
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Artwork overview

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Godfrey Frankel, Silver Spring, MD; purchased by the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, (through the Witkin Gallery, Inc., New York), 1983; acquired by NGA, 2015.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

on verso, signed by artist, upper center in black ink: Godfrey Frankel; upper center in graphite: NYC 1947 / Godfrey Frankel / Bowery Barber Shop / East Side New York City; by unknown hand, top left corner, rectangle drawn with vertical line through middle; by Corcoran Gallery of Art, bottom right corner: 1983.70

Wikidata ID

Q64154326

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