Lou Reed, poet-musician (hero to avant-guard Czechoslovak intellectual rock-band dissident "Plastic People of the Universe" defended from government persecution by playwright Vaclav Havel and his Charter 77 friends) at make-up table in green room, public Theater Lafayette Street New York, invited by impresario Rose Lesniak (above) to Master Ceremonies, Premiere of Poetry- Music Video Clips by Anne Waldman ("uh! oh! plutonium") and myself ("Father Death Blues"), September 1984.

1984, printed 1991

Allen Ginsberg

Associated Names
Allen Ginsberg

Artist, American, 1926 - 1997

The image depicts a man sitting on a chair next to a wall. The man has short, dark hair and distinctive facial features. He is dressed in dark attire. There is another person partially visible to his left, wearing dark clothing and holding papers. The room has a plain wall, and there is a cluttered surface with various items and papers on the left side of the image. A poster on the wall advertises a performance by Samuel Beckett's Company at the Public Theater.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Gift of Gary Davis

  • Dimensions

    image: 19.8 × 29.6 cm (7 13/16 × 11 5/8 in.)
    sheet: 27.7 × 35.5 cm (10 7/8 × 14 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2017.165.35


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Allen Ginsberg Estate; Gary Davis, Greenwich, CT; gift to NGA (through Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York), 2017.

Associated Names

Inscriptions

signed by artist, lower right on sheet in black ink: Allen Ginsberg; artist inscription, across bottom under image: Lou Reed, poet-musician (hero to avant-guard Czheckozlovak [sic] intellectual rock-band dissident / "Plastic People of the Universe" defended from government persecution by playwright Vaclav Havel and his / Charter 77 friends) at make-up table in green room, public Theater Lafayette Street New York, in- / vited by impressario Rose Lesniak (above) to Master Ceremonies, Premiere of Poetry- Music Video / Clips by Anne Waldman ("oh! [sic] oh! plutonium") and myself ("Father Death Blues"), September 1984.; on verso, by unknown hand, top left in graphite: #38 VE; top right in graphite circled: #59; upper right in graphite circled: 145; center in graphite: Sept 84 / # 219/9414 / Signed 1/25/91; bottom center in graphite: GD-AG-357; bottom right in graphite: GDC-822 AGI96 20


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