The Hoffman House Saloon, New York
ca. 1895
Medium
Pen and black ink
Dimensions
sheet: 9 15/16 x 12 3/16 in. (25.2 x 31 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.722.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Phil May’s *The Hoffman House Saloon, New York* captures a lively moment inside one of Manhattan’s most celebrated Gilded Age establishments around 1895. Created in pen and black ink, the drawing uses economical, expressive lines to suggest the saloon’s opulent interior and the mix of patrons who gathered there. May, a British illustrator renowned for his witty social sketches, distills the scene into a few confident strokes that convey both the grandeur of the space and the everyday interactions of its visitors. The Hoffman House, located near Madison Square, was famous for its lavish bar de...