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Berenice Abbott

Selected Works Thumbnails
A’Lelia Walker, New York, c. 1930

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 4¼ x 3¾ in. / 10.8 x 9.5 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 34.6 cm

A’Lelia Walker, New York, c. 1930

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 4¼ x 3¾ in. / 10.8 x 9.5 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 34.6 cm

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An Industrial Designer’s Window, Bleecker Street, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 9½ x 7½ in. / 24.1 x 19.1 cm

mount: 18 x 14 in. / 45.7 x 35.6 cm

An Industrial Designer’s Window, Bleecker Street, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 9½ x 7½ in. / 24.1 x 19.1 cm

mount: 18 x 14 in. / 45.7 x 35.6 cm

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Bookshop on Seventh Avenue South, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

9½ x 6¾ in. / 24.1 x 17.1 cm

Bookshop on Seventh Avenue South, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

9½ x 6¾ in. / 24.1 x 17.1 cm

Inquire
Carl Van Vechten, New York, c. 1929-30

gelatin silver print, vintage

8 x 5¼ in. / 20.3 x 13.3 cm

Carl Van Vechten, New York, c. 1929-30

gelatin silver print, vintage

8 x 5¼ in. / 20.3 x 13.3 cm

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James Joyce, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 12 x 10½ in. / 30.5 x 26.7 cm

mount: 20 x 16 in. / 50.8 x 40.6 cm

James Joyce, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 12 x 10½ in. / 30.5 x 26.7 cm

mount: 20 x 16 in. / 50.8 x 40.6 cm

Inquire
Gay Street from the corner of Christopher Street, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

7 x 5 in. / 17.8 x 12.7 cm

Gay Street from the corner of Christopher Street, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

7 x 5 in. / 17.8 x 12.7 cm

Inquire
Janet Flanner, Paris, c. 1927

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

5 x 4 in. / 12.7 x 10.2 cm

Janet Flanner, Paris, c. 1927

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

5 x 4 in. / 12.7 x 10.2 cm

Inquire
Japanese Lapidary, 619 Hudson Street, Manhattan, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, printed 1970s

9 x 7 in. / 22.9 x 17.8 cm

Japanese Lapidary, 619 Hudson Street, Manhattan, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, printed 1970s

9 x 7 in. / 22.9 x 17.8 cm

Inquire
John Sloan, New York, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on card, vintage

image: 9¼ x 7⅜ in. / 23.5 x 18.7 cm

mount: 13 x 10 in. / 33 x 25.4 cm

John Sloan, New York, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on card, vintage

image: 9¼ x 7⅜ in. / 23.5 x 18.7 cm

mount: 13 x 10 in. / 33 x 25.4 cm

Inquire
Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, c. 1947-48

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed later (pre-1975)

image: 9¼ x 7½ in. / 23.5 x 19.1 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 35.6 cm

Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, c. 1947-48

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed later (pre-1975)

image: 9¼ x 7½ in. / 23.5 x 19.1 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 35.6 cm

Inquire
Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, n. d.

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

10 x 8 in. / 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, n. d.

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

10 x 8 in. / 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Inquire
Solita Solano, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print, vintage

3¼ x 2¾ in. / 8.3 x 7 cm

Solita Solano, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print, vintage

3¼ x 2¾ in. / 8.3 x 7 cm

Inquire
A’Lelia Walker, New York, c. 1930

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 4¼ x 3¾ in. / 10.8 x 9.5 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 34.6 cm

A’Lelia Walker, New York, c. 1930

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 4¼ x 3¾ in. / 10.8 x 9.5 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 34.6 cm

An Industrial Designer’s Window, Bleecker Street, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 9½ x 7½ in. / 24.1 x 19.1 cm

mount: 18 x 14 in. / 45.7 x 35.6 cm

An Industrial Designer’s Window, Bleecker Street, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 9½ x 7½ in. / 24.1 x 19.1 cm

mount: 18 x 14 in. / 45.7 x 35.6 cm

Bookshop on Seventh Avenue South, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

9½ x 6¾ in. / 24.1 x 17.1 cm

Bookshop on Seventh Avenue South, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

9½ x 6¾ in. / 24.1 x 17.1 cm

Carl Van Vechten, New York, c. 1929-30

gelatin silver print, vintage

8 x 5¼ in. / 20.3 x 13.3 cm

Carl Van Vechten, New York, c. 1929-30

gelatin silver print, vintage

8 x 5¼ in. / 20.3 x 13.3 cm

James Joyce, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 12 x 10½ in. / 30.5 x 26.7 cm

mount: 20 x 16 in. / 50.8 x 40.6 cm

James Joyce, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed 1970s

image: 12 x 10½ in. / 30.5 x 26.7 cm

mount: 20 x 16 in. / 50.8 x 40.6 cm

Gay Street from the corner of Christopher Street, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

7 x 5 in. / 17.8 x 12.7 cm

Gay Street from the corner of Christopher Street, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, vintage

7 x 5 in. / 17.8 x 12.7 cm

Janet Flanner, Paris, c. 1927

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

5 x 4 in. / 12.7 x 10.2 cm

Janet Flanner, Paris, c. 1927

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

5 x 4 in. / 12.7 x 10.2 cm

Japanese Lapidary, 619 Hudson Street, Manhattan, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, printed 1970s

9 x 7 in. / 22.9 x 17.8 cm

Japanese Lapidary, 619 Hudson Street, Manhattan, c. 1948

gelatin silver print, printed 1970s

9 x 7 in. / 22.9 x 17.8 cm

John Sloan, New York, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on card, vintage

image: 9¼ x 7⅜ in. / 23.5 x 18.7 cm

mount: 13 x 10 in. / 33 x 25.4 cm

John Sloan, New York, c. 1947

gelatin silver print mounted on card, vintage

image: 9¼ x 7⅜ in. / 23.5 x 18.7 cm

mount: 13 x 10 in. / 33 x 25.4 cm

Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, c. 1947-48

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed later (pre-1975)

image: 9¼ x 7½ in. / 23.5 x 19.1 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 35.6 cm

Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, c. 1947-48

gelatin silver print mounted on board, printed later (pre-1975)

image: 9¼ x 7½ in. / 23.5 x 19.1 cm

mount: 17 x 14 in. / 43.2 x 35.6 cm

Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, n. d.

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

10 x 8 in. / 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Repair Shop, 19 Christopher Street, n. d.

gelatin silver print, printed later (pre-1975)

10 x 8 in. / 25.4 x 20.3 cm

Solita Solano, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print, vintage

3¼ x 2¾ in. / 8.3 x 7 cm

Solita Solano, Paris, c. 1926

gelatin silver print, vintage

3¼ x 2¾ in. / 8.3 x 7 cm

It is your job to make photographs, let the future look at them. —Berenice Abbott, 1936

About

Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) first arrived in Greenwich Village from her native Ohio at the age of nineteen in 1918 and quickly found herself among the literary and artistic demimonde. Having intended to pursue journalism and sculpture, it was not until her extended sojourn to Paris from 1921 through 1929 when she delved into the medium of photography, training in the atelier of Man Ray. In Paris Abbott encountered and photographed many of the modernist figures she had known during her initial stay in Greenwich Village: the eccentric editors of the avant-garde literary magazine The Little Review Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, founder of the Village’s Civic Repertory Theatre Eva Le Gallienne, writers Djuna Barnes and Solita Solano—as well as locals like Jean Cocteau, Coco Chanel, Eugène Atget, and the American foreign correspondent for The New Yorker Janet Flanner.

Upon her return to New York in 1929, now fashionable and successful, Abbott saw the city with new eyes. She set up a portrait studio, photographing prominent American businessmen for Fortune magazine, as well as prominent New Yorkers who ran in her social circle, like Carl Van Vechten, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and A’Lelia Walker, hoping that the profits would allow her to devote time to her real passion of documenting the ever-shifting urban landscape. In 1934, she began teaching photography at The New School for Social Research. By 1939, with her partner Elizabeth McCausland, she would publish her most well-known project, Changing New York, financed by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, and featuring ninety-seven of the roughly three hundred photographs she took throughout the five boroughs between 1935 and 1939.

Abbott first began exhibiting at Marlborough in 1975 as part of an exhibition entitled Three Photographers—Three Cities: Bill Brandt, Berenice Abbott and Brassaï. Two solo exhibitions devoted to Abbott would follow, in 1976 and 1985.

Abbott’s photographs are held in many of the world’s most prestigious photography collections, including the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas; Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, California; George Eastman Museum, Rochester, New York; Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia; International Center for Photography; New York; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; MIT Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France; Museum of the City of New York, New York; Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia; New York Public Library, New York; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The Phillips Collection, Washington, District of Columbia; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Franscisco, California; Syracuse University Art Museum, Syracuse, New York; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England; and Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, among others.

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