One Fifth Avenue, N.Y.C.
1973-1978, printed 1994
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 29.21 × 19.05 cm (11 1/2 × 7 1/2 in.) sheet: 35.56 × 27.94 cm (14 × 11 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Mr. Isidore and Mrs. Dorothy (Steinberg) Kavka and Museum Purchase)
Accession Number
2016.117.91
Art Historical Context
Richard Gordon's *One Fifth Avenue, N.C.* (1973–1978, printed 1994) a striking glimpse into New York City's architectural legacy. Captured during the vibrant yet turbulent 1970s—a decade marked by urban grit and resilience—this gelatin silver print centers on the iconic One Fifth, a historic Art Deco residential tower that has symbolized luxury living on Manhattan's famed avenue since the 1920s. Gordon's composition invites us to appreciate the building's elegant lines against the pulse of city life. The gelatin silver print medium, a cornerstone of 20th-century photography, excels in its lum...
About the Artist
Richard Gordon
Richard Gordon (1945–2012) was a self-taught American photographer born in Chicago, Illinois. He studied political science at the University of Chicago from 1963 to 1967 but discovered photography in 1965 while working at a local studio.) Early in his career, Robert Frank critiqued his work, praising his passion for the medium, and Gordon frequently paid homage to influences like Eugène Atget, Wal...