The Art of Burlesque: ‘New Gotham Burlesque, 1931’ by Reginald Marsh (1898-1954)
The drawings of burlesque and vaudeville acts Marsh made in the 1920s for the New York Daily News are among the first of his many images of popular theater. Such entertainments flourished throughout the country and were available all over New York City. The burlesque that Marsh captured can be described as raunchy and vulgar, but also comedic and satiric. Marsh’s drawings depict chorus girls, clowns, theater goers and strippers. Burlesque was “the theater of the common man; it expressed the humor, and fantasies of the poor, the old, and the ill-favored.” Marsh continued his burlesque sketches during his trip to Paris in 1925.
In 1930 Marsh was well off; he was successful in his career and had inherited a portion of his grandfather’s money. Nonetheless, the lower class members of society were his preferred subject matter, as he contended that “well bred people are no fun to paint”.