Skip to main content
Letter from the Hotel Chelsea Page 1
Letter from the Hotel Chelsea Page 1
Letter from the Hotel Chelsea Page 1

Letter from the Hotel Chelsea Page 1

Artist (American, born 1940)
Printer (American, 1938 - 2007)
Publisher (American, founded 1973)
Date1979
Mediumphoto screenprint
DimensionsImage: 21 11/16 × 13 5/8 in. (55.1 × 34.6 cm)
Support (1): 29 1/4 × 20 1/4 in. (74.3 × 51.4 cm)
Support (2): 30 1/4 × 21 1/4 in. (76.8 × 54 cm)
Mat: 36 × 26 1/8 in. (91.4 × 66.4 cm)
ClassificationsGraphic
Credit LineGift of Betty Hahn, 2015
Object number2015.2.15
DescriptionPrint of handwritten letter on Chelsea Hotel stationery against blue background.
Text Entries

The prints in this portfolio are five-color (blue, grey, black, tan, and orange) printed on Arches 88 paper, bon a tirer, in an edition of seven, each including 7 photo silkscreens, a portfolio case, a T-shirt (unlimited edition), and a print of a blank sheet of Hotel Chelsea stationery (edition of 10). The edition was printed by Jim Kraft at Unified Arts, Albuquerque, New Mexico. See “Betty Hahn, Photography or Maybe Not,” (UNM Press, 1995), p. 188.

 

The text in the images are from a letter written from the Chelsea Hotel in New York City by Diane Luppi, a former student of Betty Hahn’s at the University of New Mexico.

 

This image shows a blue background with an image of a handwritten letter on Hotel Chelsea letterhead, to Betty Hahn from Diane Luppi.

 

Letterhead reads: “ ‘A LANDMARK OF N.Y.C.’ / HOTEL CHELSEA/New York/

AT SEVENTH AVENUE/WEST TWENTY THIRD STREET/NEW YORK, N.Y. 10011/CABLE ADDRESS.HOCHELSEA.NEW YORK/TELEPHONE CHELSEA 3-3700” with image of hotel and clouds above it at top, and at bottom: “LARGE and SOUND-PROOF ROOMS”.

 

Text of letter reads: “1)/Dear Betty--/Jan & I are staying/at the Chelsea – home to/Robert [section of crossed-out text] Flaherty,/O. Henry, Thomas Wolfe, Dylan/Thomas and, at one time/or another, every other derelict,/drug addict, pimp, whore,/degenerate, pusher, punk-/rock idol, drag queen, con-/artist, [section of crossed-out text] pervert,/shopping bag lady, transvestite,/and dyke that New York has/ever known. The room is/ as sleezy [sic.], if not more so,/than the clientele. We like/it./Did you realize that/NY has been invaded by [small crossed-out area]” in handwriting of Diane Luppi.
Using a letter she received from a former student, Diane Luppi, as a starting point, Betty Hahn created prints that reproduce each handwritten page and the envelope in which the letter was mailed. Each sheet bears the prominent logo of the Hotel Chelsea in New York City, the historic home of many well-known artists, actors, writers, and musicians -- and thus a pilgrimage site for their fans and admirers. The letter offers a vivid verbal snapshot of Luppi’s visit to New York in the late 1970s.
On View
Not on view