CITYist

Allen Ginsberg, Myself seen by William Burroughs…our apartment roof Lower East Side between Avenues B & C…Fall 1953; National Gallery of Art, Gift of Gary S. Davis Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.

There was a time when poets Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, writer Jack Kerouac and muse Neal Cassidy roamed freely about the East Village. On roofs, fire escapes and dark jazz clubs they gathered inspiration and communed in literary circles that would one day transcend into legend. They didn’t know it then, of course, which is why the photographs in Beat Memories, on view now at the National Gallery in DC, are so disarming and truthful.

Consisting of dozens of photographs from Allen Ginsberg’s private collection, most of the images contain hand-written captions by Ginsberg himself describing the context of the photograph and the subjects’ lives at that particular point. Some staged and some candid, they reveal glimpses into the minds behind Howl and On the Road—classic literature for those of the indie persuasion. If you find yourself in DC, check out the collection between now and September 17th and see Ginsberg’s seamless transition from poet to photographer.

Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, railroad brakeman’s rule-book in pocket…206 East 7th Street near Tompkins Park, Manhattan, probably September 1953; National Gallery of Art, Gift of Gary S. Davis , Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.

Allen Ginsberg, “Now Jack as I warned you… William Burroughs… lecturing…Jack Kerouac…Manhattan, 206 East 7th St. Apt. 16, Fall 1953; National Gallery of Art, Gift of Gary S. Davis, Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.

Allen Ginsberg, Allen Ginsberg; Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.

Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and his love of that year the star-crossed Natalie Jackson…San Francisco, maybe March 1955; National Gallery of Art, Gift of Gary S. Davis , Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.

Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac wandering along East 7th street after visiting Burroughs at our pad…Fall 1953, Manhattan; National Gallery of Art, Gift of Gary S. Davis, Copyright (c) 2010 The Allen Ginsberg LLC. All rights reserved.