Weegee (Arthur Fellig)
The Critic

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Artist Weegee (Arthur Fellig) (American, born Austria, 1899–1968)American, born Austria, 1899–1968

CultureAmerican

Titles

The Critic
Opening Night at the Metropolitan Opera, New York

Date1943

PlaceNew York City, New York, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage/Sheet: 10 15/16 × 13 3/4 in. (27.8 × 35 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Marion Mundy, the Manfred Heiting Collection

Object number2002.2623

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Manfred Heiting Collection of Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionWeegee became famous for his style of graphic, gritty street photography of New York. As a press photographer, he had a knack for showing up on the scene moments after a crime, perhaps because he tuned in to a police radio. His dramatic, sometimes lurid images helped develop the standard of tabloid journalism. Weegee photographed for newspapers, but many of his images were so popular that they were widely reproduced in all manner of printed publications. This prizewinning picture of Mrs. Leonora Warner and her mother, Mrs. George Washington Cavanaugh, arriving for the opening of the Metropolitan Opera season was among Weegee’s most broadly published photos.
ProvenanceLunn Ltd., New York.

Bought by Manfred Heiting from Lunn Ltd., New York. on 11/30/1989.
Exhibition History"The Graham Nash Collection", De Saisset Art Gallery and Museum, University of Santa Clara, 1978.

"New York, New York: Photographs from the Manfred Heiting Collection", at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston from October 8 - March 9, 2003.

"Public Dress," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 19 June - 8 October, 2012.

“Made for Magazines: Iconic 20th-Century Photographs,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, February 9–May 4, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

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The photograph is not signed.

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