I found this just down the road from Saratoga, NY, where it was taken just shy of 100 years ago I believe, documenting a "Bath Room Section" of the famous Lincoln Bath just after the facility opened to the public. (The first Lincoln baths building opened in 1915 then was destroyed by a fire in 1927; the "new" building, still standing, was completed in 1929 and opened in 1930 to the public, designed by William E. Haugaard (1889-1949) who studied at Pratt Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Ecole des Beaux-Arts.) The bath house had the capacity to provide 4,500 treatments daily, making it at the time the largest single mineral water bathing unit in the world, with treatments provided for a wide variety of ailments. Soon three more bath houses would be added nearby – the Washington and two Roosevelt facilities – providing 200,000 baths annually.
I love the history of it all, and--having grown up near Saratoga, its specific connection to the particular definition of the place. But I especially love this photograph itself, shot from one corner, with a view of the end of the tub in closest proximity, and then just this line of black curtains receding into the distance. It makes me think a bit of a Robert Irwin installation, say, at the old Dia in Chelsea, laying in wait of visitors to animate it--and more broadly of the particular public-private nature of a space like this, and all of the dynamics, and potential interactions, it sets the stage for. I could write about this all day, but I'll let it be!
24 1/2" x 20 1/2" framed. Sight: 19 1/2" x 15 1/2". Some general wear to the surface of the frame, holding its original glass, but all in good condition, better in person. With a wire for hanging on reverse.
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