Barker, Half Moon Hotel
John L. Murphy
Photography
The Half Moon Hotel opened on the boardwalk in 1927. Its name referred to the explorer Henry Hudson’s ship, which anchored off Gravesend Bay on Coney Island in 1609 before continuing toward what would be called Manhattan and the Hudson River. Initially fashionable and well attended, the hotel suffered from the general decline and became a maternity hospital in the late 1940s. A senior citizens’ home was built on the site in the 1970s. This ghostlike image by John L. Murphy captures the memory of time past at Coney Island. Filled with both sadness and nostalgia, it conflates many layers of the site’s history.
MEDIUM
Gelatin silver print
DATES
1984; printed 1990
DIMENSIONS
sheet: 15 7/8 × 19 3/4 in. (40.3 × 50.2 cm)
image: 13 3/4 × 16 3/4 in. (34.9 × 42.5 cm)
SIGNATURE
Signed verso lower right edge in graphite: "John L. Murphy 1990"
INSCRIPTIONS
Inscribed verso left lower corner in graphite "Barker, Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island 1984"
ACCESSION NUMBER
1991.167.2
CREDIT LINE
Frank Sherman Benson Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
RECORD COMPLETENESS
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