East Broadway #294, Manhattan
1937
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet: 25.2 x 20.3 cm (9 15/16 x 8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of the Robert B. and Joyce Menschel Family Foundation
Accession Number
2011.106.13
Art Historical Context
Berenice Abbott’s *East Broadway #294, Manhattan* (1937) captures a slice of New York City life during a period of rapid urban transformation. Working in the 1930s, Abbott documented the city’s evolving architecture and streets with remarkable clarity, preserving moments that would soon disappear amid modernization. This gelatin silver print exemplifies her commitment to straight photography, emphasizing sharp detail and straightforward composition over manipulation. The medium itself highlights the era’s photographic advancements, allowing Abbott to render textures of brick facades, signage,...
About the Artist
Berenice Abbott
Berenice Abbott (1898–1991) was an American photographer whose documentary images of New York City and pioneering scientific photography established her as one of the most important photographers of the twentieth century. Born in Springfield, Ohio, she moved to New York in 1918, briefly studied sculpture, and then traveled to Paris, where she became Man Ray's studio assistant in 1923. In Paris, A...