Lafcadio Orlovsky, with sister Marie. I went to Park Lake Rest Home Ronkonkoma L.I. where he’d been sheltered & sedated the last few years, silent - till Catholic Charities arranged for Day-Care thrice weekly, he woke a bit & began crayon drawing again, phoned me & asked me to visit with Marie after 2 years absence. “Can I go home and live with Marie?” We went to restaurant on highway nearby March 21, 1995.
1995
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 30.4 × 20.5 cm (11 15/16 × 8 1/16 in.) sheet: 35.2 × 27.8 cm (13 7/8 × 10 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Gary Davis
Accession Number
2012.118.62
Art Historical Context
In this poignant 1995 gelatin silver print, titled *Lafcadio Orlovsky, sister Marie...*, Beat Generation icon Allen Ginsberg captures an intimate family moment. The lengthy, diary-like title recounts Ginsberg's visit to Lafcadio Orlovskybrother of Ginsberg's longtime partner, poet Peter Orlovsky—at Park Lake Rest Home inkonkoma, Long Island. After years of sedation and silence, Lafc revived through Catholic Charities' day-care program, resuming crayon drawings and pleading to live with his sister Marie. The trio's outing to a nearby highway restaurant on March 21 symbolizes a fragile reconnect...
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...