The Bathtub In My Studio

About this print: “The Bathtub in My Studio” and “The Toilet In My Studio On Broome Street” were made as a pair. In this work the artist shows a small, make-shift bathroom arrangement with a bathtub on a wooden frame blocking a non-operational metal door that once accessed the hallway and stairs. It might be deduced by studying the two images that the artist was sitting on the toilet when he did the drawing of the tub. He has a keen eye for detail as is clear from his treatment of the light bulbs, wiring , ceiling sprinkler, pipes, brick wall and especially the pattern of the tiled floor. He even shows the humorous fact that a section of the back wall and door frame had to be cut out to fit the bath tub which was too long for the room.

About the Broome Street Series: In 1966, fresh out of graduate school, the artist moved to his first real working studio in an industrial loft building at 389 Broome Street in New York City. After living on the second floor for a year, he then moved up to the third floor. Make-shift living in an industrial loft space was a new and fascinating experience and his immediate interior environment became the subject matter for much of his artwork during this period. Paintings done in and about his studio environment were shown in his first major New York exhibition at the Martha Jackson Gallery in 1968. The prints in this series were based on those early paintings and were made by the artist shortly after he moved to his studio at 130 Greene Street.