{"data":{"id":"4465","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":4465,"topgoose_id":1479,"tms_id":4465,"display_name":"Lisette Model","sort_name":"Model Lisette","display_date":"1901–1983","begin_date":"1901","end_date":"1983","biography":"\u003cp\u003eAfter years of music training, Lisette\nModel took up photography before moving\nfrom Europe to the United States in 1938.\nLiving in New York, she set out to capture\nthe city’s bustling streets and nightlife.\nLike other street photographers who\nemerged during this period, Model took\nadvantage of the recent invention of\nportable handheld cameras, pursuing what\nshe called “the art of the split second.”\nWith their candid, unaffected style, Model’s\nimages evoke the qualities of a snapshot.\nShe gravitated not to scenes of elegance\nand refinement, but to the operatic dramas\nand comedies of ordinary life, especially\nthe seedy but alluring underbelly of\nnocturnal New York.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of Model’s favorite locales was\nSammy’s Bowery Follies, a nightclub\nlocated among the flophouses and missions\nof the Bowery in downtown Manhattan.\nSammy’s featured colorful performers\nand attracted both downtown personalities\nand thrill-seeking members of the uptown\nelite—all of whom became targets of\nModel’s lens. In \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/11506\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSammy’s, New York\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, Model\ncaptures a private moment amid the club’s\naction. A sailor and a woman engage in an\nintense but mysterious exchange, the sexual\nheat between them accentuated by the\nlow camera angle, dramatic lighting, and\nclosely cropped composition. After this shot\nand others from Sammy’s were featured\nin \u003cem\u003eHarper’s Bazaar,\u003c/em\u003e where Model worked from\n1941 to 1955, her images of the nightclub\nbecame one of her best-known series.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":false,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500000242","wikidata_id":"Q79067","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:25:34.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:03:00.570-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/4465/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/4465/exhibitions"}}}}