Jack Kerouac 1953 Seen through window sill lined with books, from Fire Escape 206 E. 7 St. N.Y.C. He was living or writing Subterraneans
1953, printed later
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 17.8 x 25.4 cm (7 x 10 in.) sheet: 27.7 x 35.3 cm (10 7/8 x 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Gary S. Davis
Accession Number
2011.146.24
Art Historical Context
In 1953, Allen Ginsberg, the legendary Beat poet known for *Howl*, captured an intimate portrait of his close friend Jack Kerouac from a fire escape at 206 East 7th Street in New York City's East Village. Titled *Jack Kerouac 1953 Seen through Window Sill Lined with Books, from Fire Escape 206 E. 7 St. N.Y.C. He was living or writing Subterraneans*, this gelatin silver print peers through a book-lined windowsill, framing Kerouac in his cluttered, creative sanctuary. The image, measuring 17.8 x 25.4 cm, evokes the raw, bohemian energy of postwar Greenwich Village bohemia. This candid snapshot ...
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...