JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG Bowling Nine Pins at Tammany Hall

Sale 2465 - Lot 121

Price Realized: $ 594

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

JAMES MONTGOMERY FLAGG.
Bowling Nine Pins at Tammany Hall. Political illustration based on Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle," poking fun at New York City politics, circa 1916. Oil on canvas. 559x851 mm; 22x33 1/2 inches, framed to 44x32 inches. Signed in upper left.

Set Alert for Similar Items

Additional Details

A curious, moody canvas based on the famous scene in Rip van Winkle, where the forest dwarves are playing nine-pins. Here, the wood fellows are replaced by the crooked politicians of New York City's Tammany Hall, with Public Service Commissioner Edward McCall and Kings County Commissioner John Henry McCooey cheering on the game while a startled "Rip," who appears to be NY Governor Charles S. Whitman, happens upon them. Whitman was a keen district attorney before being elected 41st Governor of New York in 1915, where he focused on reforming finances and reorganizing state departments, delving into the salaries and corrupt activities of civil service employees. A major investigation included a series of twenty charges against McCall, who was a running candidate of Tammany Hall for Mayor.