George Kalinsky photographs
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Abstract
Approximately 154 color and black-and-white photographs that comprised two exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society: "I Am King of the World": Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky (2016-2017), and "New York Through the Lens of George Kalinsky (2018), which focused on well-known sports figures and popular entertainers who appeared at Madison Square Garden, where Kalinsky has been official photographer since 1966.
Biographical Note
Sports and entertainment photographer George Kalinsky (b. 1936, Hempstead, N.Y.) landed the job of official photographer for Madison Square Garden in 1966, a year after bluffing his way into Muhammad Ali's workout session there. The two men became fast friends, and Kalinsky captured on film the seminal events of "the great one's" career until Ali's death in 2016.
Kalinsky's award-winning work (he was named PMDA International Photographer of the Year in 2001) has been shown throughout the world, and is found in the permanent collections of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Jewish Museum of New York, Cornell University, and the New-York Historical Society.
For more information visit the photographer's website: georgekalinsky.com.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in two series:
Series I. Images from "I Am King of the World": Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky (1965-1999).
Series II. Images from "New York Through the Lens of George Kalinsky" (1955, 1965-2017).
Scope and Contents
The collection contains approximately 154 color and black-and-white photographic prints that formed the basis of two exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society, both curated by Dr. Marilyn S. Kushner, Head, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections. The first, "I Am King of the World": Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky, ran concurrently with a related exhibition, "Muhammad Ali, LeRoy Neiman, and the Art of Boxing," from December 11, 2016 through March 26, 2017. "I Am King of the World" presented through Kalinsky's images seminal career highlights of boxer Muhammad Ali (1942–2016), including
• Ali working out at the 5th Street Gym, Miami; speaking to sportscaster Howard Cosell (1965)
• training at Madison Square Garden; his bout vs. Zora Folley (1967)
• rivalry with basketball great Wilt Chamberlain; his bout vs. Joe Frazier, called the "Fight of the Century" (1971)
• training at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania for his bout vs. Floyd Patterson (1972)
• promoting his fight with Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium; signing autographs at the Concord Resort Hotel in the Catskills (1976)
• his bout vs. Earnie Shavers (1977)
• sitting ringside at WrestleMania (1984)
• receiving Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Century award (1999)
The second exhibition, New York Through the Lens of George Kalinsky, ran from February 2 through September 30, 2018. Although largely given to shots of famous athletes, the exhibition also embraced images of singers, dancers, and other performers—virtually anyone notable who appeared at Madison Square Garden, where Kalinsky has been official photographer since 1966. Subjects include figures from the worlds of
Baseball: Yogi Berra, Joe DiMaggio, Gil Hodges, Ralph Kiner, Jerry Koosman, Willie Mays, Jesse Orosco, Mike Piazza, Mariano Rivera, Jackie Robinson, Tom Seaver, Casey Stengel
Basketball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Bradley, Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Red Holzman, Michael Jordan, Spike Lee (as a fan), Earl Monroe, Shaquille O'Neal, Kristaps Porziņģis, Willis Reed, Marvin "Mendy" Rudolph, Bill Russell
Boxing: Muhammad Ali, Ringo Bonavena, John F. X. Condon, Zora Folley, Joe Frazier, Emile Griffith, Sugar Ray Leonard, Ken Norton, Floyd Patterson, Earnie Shavers
Comedy: Whoopi Goldberg, Otto Griebling, Bob Hope
Dance: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Judith Jamison
Figure skating: Peggy Fleming
Football: Jim Brown, Eli Manning, Joe Namath, O. J. Simpson
Hockey: Emile Francis, Wayne Gretzky, Henrik Lundqvist, Mark Messier
Music: Tony Bennett, Leonard Bernstein, Bono, David Bowie, Aaron Copland, Bing Crosby, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland, Dizzy Gillespie, Jimi Hendrix, Lena Horne, Michael Jackson, Billy Joel, Elton John, Janis Joplin, Alicia Keys, John Lennon, Madonna, Luciano Pavarotti, Elvis Presley, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Andy Williams
Religion: Pope John Paul II
Television: Howard Cosell, Walter Cronkite, Ed Sullivan
Tennis: Roger Federer, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Juan Martín del Potro, Sloane Stephens, Serena Williams, Venus Williams
Subjects
Organizations
People
Access Restrictions
Available by advance appointment only. To schedule an appointment, contact the Print Room Librarian at printroom@nyhistory.org.
Use Restrictions
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as the George Kalinsky Photographs, PR 325, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from George Kalinsky, 2016-2018.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processed by archivist Joseph Ditta in April 2017. Revised and expanded to include Series II, December 2018.
Repository
Series I. Images from "I Am King of the World": Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky, 1965-1999, inclusive
Scope and Contents
The 46 prints in Series I formed the exhibition "I Am King of the World": Photographs of Muhammad Ali by George Kalinsky, which ran at the New-York Historical Society from December 11, 2016 through March 26, 2017.
Arrangement
The photographs in Series I are matted and filed in numerical order to match their position on the exhibition checklist, a copy of which is filed in Box 1. Corresponding numbers were written on the back of each mat by the archivist. All prints measure 20 x 24 inches.
Exhibition checklist | "I Am King of the World", 2017, inclusive
[01] | Muhammad Ali working out at Madison Square Garden [black-and-white], 1967
[02] | Muhammad Ali working out at his training facility in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania [black-and-white], 1972
[03] | Muhammad Ali working out at 5th St. Gym, Miami [black-and-white], 1965
[04] | Sportscaster Howard Cosell interviewing Ali in Miami [black-and-white], 1965
[05] | Muhammad Ali vs Zora Folley fight [color], 1967
[06] | Muhammad Ali after the Folley fight [color], 1967
[07] | Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali [black-and-white], 1971
[08] | Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali [color], 1971
[09] | Muhammad Ali training at Joe Frazier's gym [color], 1971
[10] | Outside Joe Frazier's gym [color], 1971
[11] | Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali at a press conference [black-and-white], 1973
[12] | Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier, 1971 [color], 1971
[13] | Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier [color], 1971
[14] | Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier [color], 1971
[15] | Muhammad Ali vs Floyd Patterson [black-and-white], 1972
[16] | Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali at Deer Lake, Ali's training camp in Pennsylvania [black-and-white], 1972
[17] | Muhammad Ali promoting his fight with Ken Norton at Yankee Stadium [black-and-white], 1976
[18] | Muhammad Ali training at the Concord Resort Hotel [black-and-white], 1976
[19] | Muhammad Ali training at the 5th St. Gym [Miami] [black-and-white], 1965
[20] | Muhammad Ali vs Earnie Shavers [color], 1977
[21] | Muhammad Ali and Wilt Chamberlain [black-and-white], early 1970s
[22] | Muhammad Ali with Floyd Patterson [black-and-white], 1972
[23] | Muhammad Ali at a newsstand in New York City [black-and-white], 1967
[24] | Muhammad Ali at his training facility in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania [black-and-white], 1974-1976
[25] | Muhammad Ali driving a busload of reporters [black-and-white], early 1970s
[26] | Muhammad Ali resting at his training facility in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania [black-and-white], 1974-1976
[27] | Muhammad Ali sleeping after a workout [black-and-white], 1967
[28] | Muhammad Ali resting during a break in workouts [black-and-white], 1974
[29] | Muhammad Ali after a training run through Miami [black-and-white], 1970
[30] | Muhammad Ali working out at 5th St. Gym, Miami [black-and-white], 1965
[31] | Muhammad Ali during a workout break at Madison Square Garden [black-and-white], 1967
[32] | Muhammad Ali and reporters [black-and-white], 1967
[33] | Muhammad Ali and the press [color], 1976
[34] | Muhammad Ali in Miami [black-and-white], 1974
[35] | Muhammad Ali signing autographs at the Concord Resort Hotel in the Catskills [black-and-white], 1976
[36] | Muhammad Ali training at Madison Square Garden [black-and-white], 1967
[37] | Sports Illustrated athletes of the century [color], 1999
[38] | Muhammad Ali sits ringside at WrestleMania [color], 1984
[39] | Muhammad Ali receiving his award as the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Century [color], 1999
[40] | Joe Frazier with Muhammad Ali [color], 1999
[41-42] | Muhammad Ali at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, training camp [near boulder painted with "Rocky Graziano"] [black-and-white] (2 copies), 1974-1976
[43] | Dizzy Gillespie and Muhammad Ali [black-and-white], 1976
[44] | Muhammad Ali vs Oscar Bonavena [color], 1970
[45] | Muhammad Ali with a coloring book of military officers [black-and-white], 1967
Series II. Images from "New York Through the Lens of George Kalinsky", 1955, 1965-2017, inclusive
Scope and Contents
The bulk of the approximately 108 prints in Series II (i.e., all of the matted prints, numbered 1 through 72) formed the exhibition "New York Through the Lens of George Kalinsky", which ran at the New-York Historical Society from February 2 through September 30, 2018.
Series II includes a number of unmatted photographs that were printed for potential use in the exhibition, but were ultimately not included in the final checklist. These prints, along with some duplicates of those that were used in the exhibition, are stored in Box 8.
Arrangement
The photographs in Series II that appeared in the exhibition are matted and filed in numerical order to match their position on the exhibition checklist, a copy of which is filed in Box 4. Corresponding numbers were written on the back of each mat by the archivist.