Leon Levinstein @Kasher

JTF (just the facts): A total of 49 black and white photographs, framed in black and unmatted, and hung against white walls in the North and South gallery spaces. All of the works are vintage gelatin silver prints, made between 1950 and 1975. The prints are sized between 11x11 and 13x17, with most roughly 11x14 or reverse. No edition information was provided on the checklist. (Installation shots at right.)

 

Comments/Context: Following on the heels of 2010 exhibits at the Met and Howard Greenberg (reviews of both linked below), this show continues the methodical reemergence and reconsideration of the work of Leon Levinstein. At this point, Levinstein's talent for capturing the funky diversity of 1960s and 1970s New York street life is decently well known, so what we have here is more of a deepening of this now familiar story, via another selection of energetic sidewalk pictures. 

 

Levinstein is perhaps best known for his undeniably keen eye for the quirks of personal fashion, and this show has plenty of gems from this genre, covering the spectrum from a sleek white blazer to dirty work coveralls. Women in patterned dresses strut down the street like it was a catwalk, and men unabashedly turn to check out the action. Skew camera angles freeze effusive hand gestures mid motion, whether from suit wearing businessmen or a screaming woman in front of a pizza joint. A trio of pictures focus on the angles of men's feet: perched on a fire hydrant, pulled up on a lamp post, or crossed leaning against a railing. And a group of stately women's faces recall Lisette Modell, with fur coats, dark hats, and veils (and even one chihuahua), framing stoic upper class wrinkles.

This particular edit also brings in a broader sample of local neighborhoods, getting beyond the swagger and grit of Times Square: couples lounging on the beach at Coney Island, serious nuns from the Lower East Side, grim faced workers from Harlem, and wide eyed street boys from Brooklyn. It also discovers plenty of unlikely city moments: a man with a pack of stray cats, a girl in a tutu following a nun, two older ladies talking though a window with Jesus underneath, a smiling family posing in front of a wall of psychedelic op art posters, and men slumbering in the shade under a scrawl of Fuck the Pigs.

 

All in, this is a solid sampler of Levinstein's street photography; not perhaps his most notable or recognizable images, but a worthwhile extension and addition to the larger ongoing education process surrounding his rightful place in photographic history.

 

Collector's POV: The prints in the show range in price from $6000 to $11000. In recent years, Levinstein's work has only been sporadically available in the secondary markets, with prices ranging

between roughly $1000 and $9000.

 

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

 

Transit Hub:

• Features/Reviews: NY Times Lens (here), Wall Street Journal (here), New Yorker (here), Elle (here)
• DLK COLLECTION reviews of 2010 exhibits: Met (here), Howard Greenberg (here)

 

Leon Levinstein

Through December 22nd

Steven Kasher Gallery

521 West 23rd Street

New York, NY 10011

Leon Levinstein, Living in the Edge, @Greenberg

JTF (just the facts): A total of 56 black and white photographs, alternately framed in black or silver and matted, and hung in groups against light brown walls in the main gallery space and the book alcove. All of the works are gelatin silver prints, taken between 1952 and 1978. Sizes range from 9x11 to 17x14 or reverse, and no information was provided on image editions. Smaller exhibits of Levinstein's work from Coney Island (8 images from 1955-1970) and from various foreign locales (7 images from Haiti, Mexico, and Spain, from 1958-1965) can be found in the small area outside Greenberg's office and in one of the side viewing rooms. 2 portraits of Levinstein by Victor Obsatz and Harvey Shaman are also included in the show. (Marginal installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: This mini-retrospective of Leon Levinstein's work is a natural gallery companion piece to the recent Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players show at the Met (reviews linked below). It provides a broad sample of his street photography across several decades, and echoes many of the subjects, themes, and visual motifs seen in the museum exhibition.

The show begins with a cross section of peep show and flop house players: go-go girls, hookers and pimps brazenly loitering in doorways, and furtive men hanging around on sidewalks, flanked by bold store window graphics to entice them in. Levinstein's pictures capture funky threads, short shorts, gritty salesmanship, and the boredom of waiting. A nearby group of pictures follows this fashion trend further, with passersby in foot-high white afros, zoot suits, bold stripes, flared pants, and fancy white shoes.

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Many of the images in the show are faces and heads pulled out of the diverse chaos of street crowds, where hats, expressions, cigarettes and folds of skin tell individual city stories. Sometimes the angled compositions crop out the noise, centering full frame on a single face, while other images force the viewer to peer through layers of out-of-focus movement to identify an interesting subject. Levinstein goes on to fragment the action further, abstracting bodies into triangles of elbows and legs, or capturing arms in variety of tender embraces. His city throbs with energy and vitality, full of colorful personalities and fleeting human moments.

All in, this is a solid follow-up offering, unearthing a representative sampler of Levinstein's work for those collectors that found themselves wowed by the Met exhibit and wanting to learn more.

Collector's POV: The works in this show are generally priced between $6500 and $15000, with a variety of intermediate prices ($7500, $8000, $9000, and $12000). Levinstein's prints have been intermittently available at auction in recent years, with prices ranging between $1000 and $9000.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Reviews: New Yorker (here), Wall Street Journal (here, scroll down)
• Met Exhibit Reviews: DLK COLLECTION (here), NY Times (here), New Yorker (here)

Leon Levinstein, Living in the Edge
Through December 4th

Howard Greenberg Gallery
41 East 57th Street
New York, NY 10022

Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players: Leon Levinstein's New York Photographs, 1950–1980 @Met

JTF (just the facts): A total of 44 black and white photographs, each framed in black wood and matted, and hung in the entry and three small connected rooms on the museum's second floor. All of the works on display are vintage gelatin silver prints, made between roughly 1950 and 1980. A glass case contains four books: 3 US Camera annuals and the catalog from The Family of Man. All of the works have been drawn from the museum's permanent collection. (Installation shots at right.)

Comments/Context: Leon Levinstein is one of those talented photographers who somehow fell through the cracks a bit and never quite got the art world recognition that he deserved. Unknown to most and categorized by some as a second tier, mid century New York street photographer, Levinstein has always seemed to be an afterthought behind Arbus, Frank, Winogrand, Klein, Levitt and others. This terrific show makes a solid attempt to remedy the situation, bringing together a broad sample of his best work from several decades.

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I think Levinstein's gift lay in his ability to capture the essence of New York's rough, funky cool (particularly in the 1960s and 1970s), without getting overly sentimental or kitchy. Nearly all of his images were taken at close range, often cropping out unneeded heads and body parts, focusing on overlooked subjects and elemental gestures found on the city's streets and sidewalks. His compositions are often angled and dark, and he was particularly adept at capturing the nuances of clothing and fashion as worn by New York's imperfect and eclectic masses, finding the hidden joy in a bold pattern, a wide collar or a tight fitting pair of shorts. The pictures are tough, edgy, sometimes harsh, and always refreshingly real.

As you look more closely at these candid pictures, Levinstein's talent for making the common look uncommon shines through. He finds earthy wonder in a foot perched on a wire trash can, a sweat stained tank top, 70s-era moustaches, a grey pinstripe suit, bulging stomachs and belts, a man fluffing his afro in a window, eating corn on the cob on the beach, tattoos, an overcoat with shiny buttons, kissing on a stoop, and a groovy floral blouse paired with tight leggings. He seems to have been fond of backs and sides, abstracting his subjects into fragments of movement or pose, paring them down into types and moments that were representative of something larger in society.

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While I wish there had been a bit more scholarship or even a small monograph to accompany this show, I think this well-edited, energy-filled exhibit will help to expose Levinstein's under appreciated gritty virtuosity to a much wider audience.
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Collector's POV: Leon Levinstein is represented by Howard Greenberg Gallery in New York (here). Levinstein's prints have been available from time to time in the secondary markets in recent years, fetching between $1000 and $9000 when they have come up at auction. Nearly all of the images in this show were donated to the museum by collector Gary Davis.
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Rating: ** (two stars) VERY GOOD (rating system described here)
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Transit Hub:

• Reviews: NY Times (here), New Yorker (here), Wall Street Journal (here), Village Voice (here), Economist (here), The Year in Pictures (here)

Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players: Leon Levinstein's New York Photographs, 1950–1980

Through October 17th

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10028