Penn Station
Reginald Marsh American
Not on view
In Penn Station, Marsh captures the bustling energy of commuters in one of New York’s most densely crowded subway stations. Scattered paper and debris, low ceilings, poor lighting, and visual congestion amplify the sense of realism. Marsh studied with the Ashcan School artist John Sloan, who encouraged him to sketch city life in situ. Like others in the Fourteenth Street School, Marsh found inspiration in the people who gathered in the city’s public spaces, such as beaches, subways, amusement parks, streets, and dance halls. Rather than focus on glamorous and wealthy subjects, Marsh concentrated on those in the middle and lower economic classes, whom he depicted at work and play, in the process of moving between spaces, and even in the many food lines that arose during the Depression.
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