1920s Social Realism “Erie R. R. Yards” Lithograph by Reginald Marsh

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While the 1920s stock market was raising some Americans to new heights of wealth, plenty of folks ground out a … Read more While the 1920s stock market was raising some Americans to new heights of wealth, plenty of folks ground out a minimal existence through hard labor. Pointedly capturing this disparity, Reginald Marsh (1898-1954) did the artwork for this lithograph in 1928, subsequently signing and numbering this print in pencil.
The scene depicts a busy freight yard, likely the Erie Railroad terminal in Jersey City, NJ. Men are shown working among freight cars. There’s a small wooden shanty, plus a switching locomotive visible in the background. This piece, along with his lithograph "The Bowery" from the same year, is considered one of his first significant scenes focusing on the daily activities of New Yorkers and adjacent industrial life.
The artist subsequently became best known for his images of gritty New York—the beaches of Coney Island, the burlesque halls of lower Manhattan—while his depictions of trains, according to a recent exhibition at Connecticut’s William Benton Museum of Art, are almost unknown. Accordingly, the museum featured similar Marsh watercolors and prints (lithographs and etchings) of trains, produced between 1927 and 1934, along with one from 1940, all from the museum’s permanent collection. Perhaps a comparable piece like this one belongs in yours?
Signature (in pencil): Signed, lower right (photo #5) and inscribed, lower left with “35 prints” (photo #6). Image dimensions: 8 7/8x13 1/8 inches, full margins. See less