Down at Jimmy Kelly's

Artist Reginald Marsh (American, 1898 - 1954)

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)

ClassificationsModern art

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2240

Terms

Nude
Woman
Dancing
Men
Saloon
Black
Yellow
Pink
White
Orange
Red
New York

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

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