Bill Burroughs "impersonating a detective with magnifying glass in hand ... Sherlock Holmes, or shabby Chinese detective in Saigon ... look at that stain on the suit." He took photos of sky, boys, streets, then photos of these photos, by stages drawing forth essences, re-photographing images of boy-stuff or blue sky, here collaged under glass plates on his bureau. Some cut-up photos from magazines, left. Calligraphy on Wardrobe closet Burroughs' adaptation of Brion Gysin's brushwork. Tangier Summer 1961. Bill's words above, 1988.
1961, printed later
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 19.69 × 27.94 cm (7 3/4 × 11 in.) sheet: 27.94 × 35.56 cm (11 × 14 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Gary S. Davis
Accession Number
2010.137.14
About the Artist
Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg (1926–1997), born in Newark, New Jersey, emerged as a multifaceted figure in American culture, best known as a Beat Generation poet but also a prolific visual artist whose photographs, drawings, and prints captured the raw energy of his era. His early life offers little documentation on artistic training, though he attended Columbia University in the 1940s, where he formed connectio...