Second Avenue Deli, 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
2016.117.82
Art Historical Context
Step into the heart of 1970s New York with Richard Gordon's *Second Avenue Deli, N.Y.C.*, a gelatin silver print capturing the everyday vibrancy of urban life. Made between 1973 and1978 and printed in 1994, this 11½ × 7½-inch image (on a 14 × 11-inch sheet) freezes a slice of the city's iconic deli culture on the Lower East Side. Gordon, known for his intimate portraits of working-class scenes, invites us to savor the warmth and hustle of a neighborhood staple amid the grit and energy of mid-century Manhattan. The gelatin silver process, a cornerstone of black-and-white photography, lends the...
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...