Fifth Avenue No. 8 (Marble House), Manhattan
1938
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
sheet: 20 x 25.2 cm (7 7/8 x 9 15/16 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
2011.106.10
Art Historical Context
Berenice Abbott’s 1938 gelatin silver print captures Fifth Avenue No. 8, known as Marble House, a striking example of Manhattan’s grand residential architecture. Created during her ambitious “Changing New York” project, the photograph reflects Abbott’s commitment to documenting the city’s evolving urban landscape amid the Great Depression. Her precise framing emphasizes the building’s ornate marble façade and imposing presence, preserving a moment when such elegant structures stood alongside the rapid modernization of New York. The gelatin silver print medium allowed Abbott to achieve rich to...
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...