Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 11

Nan Goldin
On the Beach, Boston

1974

About the Item

Nan Goldin (b. 1953) is one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. Beginning in the 1970s, Goldin took candid shots of her friends and lovers, characters often living on the margins of society. Many of Goldin's images are like entries from a diary; recording intimate elements from both her daily life and her adventures. The spirit of Goldin's work, which is often raw, tender, and audacious, has strong roots in her formative years. She was introduced to photography at the age of 16. The medium became an important outlet for Goldin. As a teenager she was deeply affected by her sister's suicide. Photography became a way to process and connect with others. After leaving home Goldin became involved with Boston's Drag scene, befriending or living with a host of young performers and trans women. Over a period of around four years (1970-1974) Goldin documented and depicted her new-found community and crew. Unlike images created by Diane Arbus, Goldin's photographs possessed an inherent admiration for her subjects and an overarching feeling of joy. Goldin showed her friends in both domestic and social environments with a strong sense of pride and ease. Goldin validates her friends' ambitions or feminine identity and celebrates them as people, as performers, as beauties. "On the Beach, Boston" is a striking and early example of Goldin's Boston period. It is possibly one of the earliest photos she printed, as she uses her full name Nancy Goldin. In this black and white photograph, Goldin captures her subject sprawled across a beach-like backdrop. While Goldin's later images are frequently melancholy or dreamy, here there is a surprising playfulness approaching satire. Shoes are strewn about as if to mimic the casual nature of an actual beach, while her subject relaxes under a cartoon-like palm tree affixed to the wall. While at odds with her typically candid aesthetic, there is an intimacy and DIY glamour that is consistent with Goldin's oeuvre. This photograph is a paradigm of the poignant and innovative black and white photography of Goldin's early years. This is a rare opportunity to acquire an impressive and early piece by one of the most accomplished photographers of the 20th century. “On the Beach, Boston" USA, 1974 Silver print Signed by the artist on verso 10.5"H 7.25"W (image) 14"H 11"W (sheet) 18"H 14.75"W (framed) Very good condition. Note: This work is not editioned, typical of photographs printed in this era.
  • Creator:
    Nan Goldin (1953, American)
  • Creation Year:
    1974
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 14 in (35.56 cm)Width: 11 in (27.94 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    Toronto, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 05-221stDibs: LU215210229622
More From This SellerView All
  • Weegee "A Trip to Mars"
    By Weegee
    Located in Toronto, Ontario
    While many first associate Weegee (aka Arthur Fellig) with New York City crime scenes, perhaps a broader and more consistent theme is that of spectacle and/or urban entertainment. The origins of his nick-name and reputation date back to the 1930s when he became the first New York City press photographer to obtain permission to install a police radio in his car. Following the city's first responders and documenting their duties, Weegee had unprecedented access to New York’s fires, crimes, debaucheries and of course, murders. During the first decade of his career these unflinching urban tragedy or crime images paid Weegee's bills, but as he became more financially independent he was more inspired to pursue photographs on his own agenda. While his oeuvre is vast, Weegee was especially drawn to entertainment: nightlife, circuses, the theatre, showgirls, city thrills, the cinema etc. Some of Weegee's most dynamic and tender (and under-appreciated!) images are related to simply having fun (in a crowd). He was not confined to one neighbourhood or demographic. He captured action, faces and events from Coney Island to the Bowery and Greenwich Village, to Times Square and Harlem. In “A Trip To Mars,” Weegee depicts a multi-generational group crowding around a large telescope...
    Category

    1940s American Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Groom Kissing His Bride
    By Diane Arbus
    Located in Toronto, Ontario
    Diane Arbus (1923-1971) is one of the most influential and daring photographers of the 20th century. Arbus is best known for her unique form of documentary portraiture. She explored the uncanny, the marginalized, and the idiosyncratic characters who defied mid-century conformity. Her work has influenced some of the most renowned photographers of our time including Nan Goldin. While her career launched in the fashion world, it was years after quitting commercial photography (circa 1956) that she found her voice as an artist. With camera in hand, she followed her fascination with the eccentric individuals and oddities of New York City. Ultimately rejecting her affluent, sheltered upbringing and the mainstream fashion industry to create her own definitions of beauty. Arbus’ portraits were considered incredibly provocative for their bold representations of sexuality, chaos, and grit. She fully immersed herself within the queer and alternative communities she documented, engaged with a curious balance of mystery and homage. Shot in 1966, "Groom Kissing His Bride" is a prime example of her uncanny ability to capture even the most traditional moments (a wedding) through a lens of surrealism. Love and tension confront each other as the groom kisses the bride with an attacking passion. Her likeness disappears behind his embrace and their newlywed bodies merge together. This work also contains Arbus’ visual trademarks – a black and white palette, a square crop, and a hard flash that flattens the aesthetic wonderland of New York. Today, Arbus' work is celebrated in many major museum collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Art Institute of Chicago, National Museum of Modern Art (Tokyo), and Centre Pompidou (Paris). "Groom Kissing his Bride, NYC" USA, 1966 Gelatin-silver print Printed by Neil Selkirk Stamped 'A Diane Arbus photograph...
    Category

    1960s American Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Untitled Film Still #59
    By Cindy Sherman
    Located in Toronto, Ontario
    Since the late 1970's Cindy Sherman has donned an array of personas to explore how women are perceived and presented in Western culture. Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills...
    Category

    1980s Contemporary Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Waterski Jumper
    By Weegee
    Located in Toronto, Ontario
    Arthur Felling, better known as Weegee (1899-1968) is America's premiere photojournalist and one of the last century's most influential photographers. He would become famous, beyond...
    Category

    1950s American Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Ballerina
    By Weegee
    Located in Toronto, Ontario
    Arthur Felling, better known as Weegee (1899-1968) is America's premiere photojournalist and one of the last century's most influential photographers. He would become famous, beyond...
    Category

    1950s Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Weegee "Sailor and Girl Kissing"
    By Weegee
    Located in Toronto, Ontario
    Weegee (1899-1968) was equally fascinated and inspired by cinema and all of its tangents, from Hollywood movie stars to ordinary civilians going to the movies. While Weegee is typically associated with crime/disaster images, the broad theme of "entertainment" is a major component of his oeuvre. An interesting and provocative sub-genre of his cinema-related work are his images of couples (often heavy-petting) in movie theatres. Recent scholarship has established that many of Weegee's supposed clandestine images were actually staged or arranged with friends or co-operative strangers. Nevertheless, Weegee created these photographs in the dark with an array of clever techniques including infrared film, filtered flashbulb and triangular prism lens. Employed in shots such as this one, the prism lens would allow the artist to “see around corners,” useful at times when his subjects were in compromising locations. These images of kissing couples, Weegee wrote in 1959, were “his best seller, year in and year out.” "Sailor and GIrl at the Movies...
    Category

    1940s American Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

You May Also Like
  • John Lennon - New York City
    By Bob Gruen
    Located in New York, NY
    Bob Gruen (born 1945) is an American photographer known for his rock 'n' roll photographs, he is an author and has appeared in films. Gruen was born in New York City. He began photo...
    Category

    1970s Post-Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Jerusalem, Israel Western Wall Ed of 5 Vintage Silver gelatin Photograph Print
    By Mikael Levin
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Photo Image taken in black & white of Western Wall (Wailing Wall) Kotel Hamaaravi in Jerusalem Israel. Hand signed, dated and titled. From very small edition of just 5 prints. (Ame...
    Category

    Early 2000s Post-Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Jerusalem, Israel Western Wall Ed of 5 Vintage Silver gelatin Photograph Print
    By Mikael Levin
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Photo Image taken in black & white of Western Wall (Wailing Wall) Kotel Hamaaravi in Jerusalem Israel. Hand signed, dated and titled. From very small edition of just 5 prints. (Ame...
    Category

    Early 2000s Post-Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Jerusalem, Israel Western Wall Ed of 5 Vintage Silver gelatin Photograph Print
    By Mikael Levin
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Photo Image taken in black & white of Western Wall (Wailing Wall) Kotel Hamaaravi in Jerusalem Israel. Hand signed, dated and titled. From very small edition of just 5 prints. Born ...
    Category

    Early 2000s Post-Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Jerusalem, Israel Western Wall Ed of 5 Vintage Silver gelatin Photograph Print
    By Mikael Levin
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Photo Image taken in black & white of Western Wall (Wailing Wall) Kotel Hamaaravi in Jerusalem Israel. Hand signed, dated and titled. From very small edition of just 5 prints. Born ...
    Category

    Early 2000s Post-Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

  • Jerusalem, Israel Western Wall Ed of 5 Vintage Silver gelatin Photograph Print
    By Mikael Levin
    Located in Surfside, FL
    Photo Image taken in black & white of Western Wall (Wailing Wall) Kotel Hamaaravi in Jerusalem Israel. Hand signed, dated and titled. From very small edition of just 5 prints. (Ame...
    Category

    Early 2000s Post-Modern Black and White Photography

    Materials

    Silver Gelatin

Recently Viewed

View All