Chatham Square

Night has fallen on a commercial district in New York City. In the background a straggling shopper exits the doorway of a store, while in the foreground, an ordinary old man, perhaps homeless, leans on a pilaster. In Reginald Marsh’s Chatham Square, the near magical light of store windows illuminates a typical night of street hustle and bustle. The bum figure in the foreground of Chatham Square is a frequent model of Marsh’s. In this work, the figure appears to have been collaged onto the surface in an attempt to add both visual and thematic depth