PHOTOGRAPHS
Weegee [Arthur Fellig]
Austria-Hungary / U.S. (1899 - 1968)
A Bingo Player
1942
Gelatin silver print
10 1/2 x 13 1/4 in. (26.7 x 33.7 cm) image size;11 13/16 x 14 in. (30.1 x 35.6 cm) sheet size
Gift of David Mendoza
FA 87.22

Weegee, born Arthur Usher Fellig, appropriated his name from the divining Ouija board for his uncanny ability to arrive earlier than other photographers on dramatic and violent scenes. While he frequently photographed the darker side of New York night life, he also took a number of images revealing his love of social comedy, such as The Bingo Player. Here, Weegee has captured the woman’s obvious frustration with her Bingo card and has exaggerated her trivial misfortune in a paparazzi-like fashion with the strong flash of his camera.

“Weegee revealed a flair for satisfying the appetites of, not just supplying news to, his public. He chased after celebrities and wanted to be one, but he placed ordinary citizens, without hesitation, at the top of his A-list. Compared with the paparazzi of today, who ignore the underclass even as they cater to it, his work represents an authentic, cunning view from beneath. He was the paparazzo of the nameless; he conferred on them a glamour that was no less gratifying because it was ephemeral.” (Max Kozloff, “Mass Hysteria,” Artforum International March 1998). -- Label copy for 150 Works of Art, October 1, 2005 to February 26, 2006.