Gelek Rimpoche working hard to ferry a few students across the waters after outing on lake-front bathing shore, late-summer Jewel Heart retreat, Yankee Springs State Park, Michigan August 27, 1993.
1993
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 26 × 17.4 cm (10 1/4 × 6 7/8 in.) sheet: 35.4 × 27.8 cm (13 15/16 × 10 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Gary Davis
Accession Number
2013.145.31
Art Historical Context
In this evocative gelatin silver print from 1993, Beat Generation poet Allen Ginsberg captures candid moment of spiritual camaraderie at the late-summer Jewel Heart retreat Yankee Springs State Park, Michigan. The title describes Gelek Rimpoche, a revered Tibetan Buddhist teacher, energetically ferrying a few students across the lake after a shoreline outing on August 27. Measuring 26 × 17.4 cm, the image freezes a scene of humility and exertion amid nature, blending everyday effort with profound mentorship. Ginsberg, best known for his revolutionary poetry like *Howl*, was also a dedicated p...
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...