Reginald Marsh Biography and Artwork

Reginald Marsh, an American painter and printmaker, was born in Paris in 1898 to artistic parents. He moved to the United States when he was two years old and later studied at Yale University and the Art Students League of New York under prominent artists like John Sloan, George Luks, and Kenneth Hayes Miller. Marsh’s favorite subjects were people in crowded urban scenes such as Coney Island beach scenes, vaudeville, women, jobless men on the Bowery, amongst others.

Marsh painted Social Realist artworks that captured New York City life during the 1920s and ’30s. He exhibited his work regularly throughout his career while teaching at the Art Students League of New York. Notably, many of Marsh’s paintings depicted women in lurid poses and situations without degrading them.

Besides being a talented artist with a distinct style, Reginald Marsh did other great things worth noting. For instance, he engaged actively with left-wing politics before World War II and supported labor unions’ activities through his art. Additionally, he worked on several public murals across America during the Great Depression era as part of President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) program.

Overall, Reginald Marsh remains celebrated for his mastery of Social Realism and unique portrayal of urban life through delightful burlesque drawings filled with satire that simultaneously critiqued social injustices towards gender relations for all times to come.

All Reginald Marsh Artwork on Artchive

Artwork Name Year Medium
Monday Night At The Metropolitan c. 1936 Tempera And Oil On Board
Hauptmann Must Die 1935 Egg Tempera On Masonite
Twenty Cent Movie 1936 Egg Tempera On Board
Coney Island 1936 Tempera on panel
Hudson Bay Fur Company 1932 Egg tempera on muslin mounted on board
Why Not Use the L 1930 Egg tempera on Canvas
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