The American artist Reginald Marsh (1898-1954) was born in Paris, but his family soon moved to a small artist community in New Jersey. He Later completed his education at Yale University before moving to New York City. His primary focus were the marginalized groups and the “seedy underbelly of New York City.” His art practice took him to the homeless of downtown Manhattan, the streets of Coney Island, and the seaports. During this time, he provided “illustrations of the vaudeville acts” to the New York Daily News, The New Yorker, and the New Masses Marxist journal. He eventually rented a studio on the 14th Street in 1929 where his overarching vision as a painter developed. Fifteen one-man exhibitions of his work were held at New York’s Frank K. M. Rehn Gallery between 1930 and 1953.2 He later turned to teaching as he spent his later years at the Art Students League. He won the Gold Medal for Graphic Arts by the American Academy and the National Institute for Arts and Letters in his upcoming years. Today his works can be found at the Whitney Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, Brooklyn Museum, and many other major American museums.
