Down at Jimmy Kelly's

Artist Reginald Marsh (American, 1898 - 1954)

CultureAmerican

Date1936

MediumTempera on board

DimensionsOverall: 36 x 30 in. (91.4 x 76.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 46 x 39 3/4 in. (116.8 x 101 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower right: REGINALD MARSH 1936

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2240

Not on view

DescriptionTempera on masonite painting of a fan dancer in a night club. She wears only high heeled shoes and holds pink ostrich feather fans - a man in a suit sits in a chair, clapping his hands while watching her perform. Other figures emerge from the background.

Label TextReginald Marsh American, 1895–1954 Down at Jimmy Kelly's, 1936 Tempera on board “Not for debutantes!”—that’s how advertisements for the Greenwich Village nightclub Jimmy Kelly’s warned potential clientele about its wild performances, such as this strip show. Everyday life and popular amusements in New York gave Reginald Marsh endless subjects for his paintings, watercolors, and prints. Marsh often included portraits in these works, using the individuality of the faces to heighten the immediacy of the spectacle. The man with the mustache in the center of this painting may be art critic Lloyd Goodrich, a close friend of the artist. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2240 ProvenanceRehn Galleries, New York City, 1936-1965; Joan and Lester Avnet, New York City; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition HistoryFrank Rehn Galleries, New York, N.Y. "The Avnet Collection," ACA Galleries, New York, N.Y., 1969. "Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum," Chrysler Museum at Norfolk, Va., March 1 - July 4, 1976. "Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk," for the benefit of The Chrysler Museum Art Reference Library, Wildenstein & Co., New York, N.Y., April 13 - May 13, 1978. "American Painting 1930-1980," Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany, November 14, 1981 - January 30, 1982. "Treasures for the Community: The Chrysler Collects, 1989-1996," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., October 25,1996 - February 16, 1997. Published ReferencesLloyd Goodrich, _Reginald Marsh_ (New York: H. N. Abrams, 1972), 74. Dennis R. Anderson, _Three Hundred Years of American Art in the Chrysler Museum_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1975, 200. Eric M. Zafran and Mario Amaya, _Veronese to Franz Kline: Masterworks from the Chrysler Museum at Norfolk_, exh. cat., Norfolk, Va., 1978, 37, 78. Mahonri Sharp Young. "Primitive to Pop," _Apollo_ 107:194 (April 1978): 46-51. _Amerikanische Malerei, 1930-1980_, exh. cat., Haus der Kunst, München, Germany, 1981, 136. ISBN: 3791305727 _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 1982), 100. ISBN: 0940744376 Marilyn Cohen, _Reginald Marsh's New York: Paintings, Drawings, Prints and Photographs_, exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, N.Y., 1983, 59. ISBN: 0486245942 Martha N. Hagood and Jefferson C. Harrison, _American Art at the Chrysler Museum: Selected Paintings, Sculpture, and Drawings_ (Norfolk, Va.: Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005), 190-191, no. 119. ISBN: 0-940744-71-6 Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 74, fig. 84. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1