Description:

George Gershwin
n.p., July 23, 1930
George Gershwin Signed Photo Presented To Disabled NYC Teenager Same Year As "I Got Rhythm" Published
SP

A vintage photograph showing modern American composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) seated before a musical score at the piano, signed, inscribed, and dated by Gershwin outside the image along the bottom margin as: "To Irving Gross - With every good wish, / George Gershwin / July 23, 1930." The black and white gelatin silver print is blind-embossed with the recipient's name and address hand-stamp as "Irving Gross / 189 East 2nd Street / New York City" verso, and its reverse appears recto but does not affect any of Gershwin's handwriting. Pen-inscribed in a different hand verso as: "This belong's [sic] to / cripple / Irving Gross." Expected wear including flaws to the emulsion and some edges. Tiny tear at top and some corner creases and rounding, but signature and inscription are very nice. Great for framing. 10" x 8."

George Gershwin may have been aware of Irving Gross's situation when he autographed this presentation photograph for him. Gross's story was featured in the May 1935 issue of "Radio Mirror" (Vol. 4, No. 1), a girl- and woman-focused radio enthusiast magazine, in an article by Frank Rutledge entitled "What Radio Means To A Man Who Has Nothing Else: How Radio Rescued One Shut-In From The Brink Of Despair And Utter Loneliness," p. 48/63. [Please see scans provided for reference, along with the follow-up "Radio Mirror" story from July 1939 (Vol. 12, No. 3), in the "Coast to Coast" section, by Dan Senseney, p.5-6.]

In the 1935 "Radio Mirror" article, readers learned how Irving Gross (born ca. 1916) first started showing signs of paralysis and lost the ability to walk as a 7-year-old child in lower Manhattan. Shortly thereafter, Gross was orphaned and became a ward of the state, living alone in a 2-room apartment, terribly lonely and depressed until a friend gifted him a crystal radio set. Around 1927, Gross started collecting autographs from the celebrities he heard speaking and singing on the radio. He eventually amassed a collection of around 2,000 signed photographs like this Gershwin signed portrait. Journalist Frank Rutledge described Gross's autograph collection in the 1935 "Radio Mirror" article: "Tacked to the walls are hundreds of autographed pictures of screen, stage, and radio celebrities. Hundreds more are neatly stacked in albums which he [Gross] thumbs through every day."

The jazz standard "I Got Rhythm" - with music by George Gershwin and lyrics by brother Ira Gershwin - was first published in 1930. The song featured prominently in Act 1 of the 1930 Broadway musical "Girl Crazy," a comedic farce co-starring Ethel Merman as a San Francisco showgirl and Ginger Rogers as a local postmistress set at an Arizona ranch.

George Gershwin had dropped out of high school to pursue his musical career, working as a demonstration pianist for a Detroit-based piano roll publishing firm at age 15. He began arranging and composing while still a teenager. Gershwin collaborated with songwriters, lyricists and his older brother Ira to compose popular Broadway musicals such as "Lady, Be Good" (1924), and many others. During the remainder of his short career, Gershwin composed classical, musical, and "folk opera" oeuvres, including "Rhapsody in Blue" (1924), "An American in Paris" (1928), "Porgy and Bess" (1935), and Hollywood music scores.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 10" x 8"
  • Medium: SP

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