Photos by Helen Levitt and Joseph Cornell published in the Americana Fantastica issues of View Magazine, 2nd Ser. 1942/1943

Photos by Helen Levitt and Joseph Cornell published in the Americana Fantastica issues of View Magazine, 2nd Ser. 1942/1943

Medici Slot Machine by Joseph Cornell
Knight in Harlem by Helen Levitt

Item found in the HRC’s Parker Tyler collection in a folder titled “View, The”--Fantastica Americana is an issue of View magazine (1940-1947) published in New York in 1943. The magazine is published by artist/writer Charles Henri Ford and writer/film critic Parker Tyler, one of New York’s most prominent queer couples in the mid-twentieth century. View magazine is a U.S. based eclectic and cosmopolitan magazine that features a wide-vary of women, people of color, and members of the LGBT community. These two images are by Helen Levitt and Joseph Cornell, two artists heavily involved with the NYC avant-garde. The image on the left, entitled "Knight in Harlem," is one of Helen Levitt's many images of NYC children. It depicts a young child with a face covering that resembles the coat of mail called a hauberk that knights would wear. On the right is Joseph Cornell's "Medici Slot Machine," a photograph of his slot machine with a Medici portrait painted on the outside.

Helen Levitt and Joseph Cornell--edited by Charles Henri Ford and Parker Tyler

Charles Henri Ford Collection, The Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin

1942/1943

Magazine / Print Media

Still Image / Collage