New York City
1963
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 19.1 x 28.4 cm (7 1/2 x 11 3/16 in.) sheet: 27.9 x 35.2 cm (11 x 13 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Patrons' Permanent Fund
Accession Number
2001.22.424
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling energy of 1960s New York with Lee Friedlander's *New York City* (1963), a gelatin silver print measuring 19.1 x 28.4 cm. Friedlander, a pioneering American photographer born in 1934, the raw pulse of urban life during a transformative era. This black-and-white image exemplifies his signature street photography style, which emerged in the post-World War II years as artists documented the complexities of modern America amid rapid urbanization and social change. Gelatin silver prints, like this one, were the gold standard for fine art photography in the mid-20th century, o...
About the Artist
Lee Friedlander
Lee Friedlander, born on July 14, 1934, in Aberdeen, Washington, to a Finnish-descended mother, Kaari Nurmi, and German-Jewish émigré father, Fritz Friedlander, discovered photography at age 14 amid a fascination with the medium's equipment. Tragedy marked his childhood when his mother died of cancer at age seven, yet he pursued his passion, earning pocket money with a camera before studying under...