While photographer Berenice Abbott has wrongly never been heralded as one of the defining giants of 20th-century photography, she is widely known, indeed celebrated, for her iconic portraits of some of the most glamorous denizens of 1920s bohemian Paris.
And although less familiar, Abbott’s photos of the deserted streets, aging tenements and rising office towers of Depression-era New York have been critically recognized as nothing short of groundbreaking. Additionally, her relatively obscure work as a science photographer has received an admiring reappraisal in recent years. Recognized for having dramatically advanced the medium’s aesthetics and techniques (earning four patents along the way), not to mention the ambition of her subject matter — the principle laws of physics — she has been favorably compared to two early masters of modernist experimentation: her mentor Man Ray and László Moholy Nagy.
In 1918, at just 19, freckled, androgynous and with cropped hair, Abbott fell in with a crowd that included the lesbian writer and illustrator Djuna Barnes and the Dadaists Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp. They encouraged her to follow them to Paris and study with the renowned sculptor Antoine Bourdelle. Unable to pay for her training, and barely surviving, Abbott took a job as Man Ray’s assistant. The miracles of the darkroom quickly converted her to photography, as did her paycheck, and Man Ray tutored her in its fundamentals.
By 1926, Abbott had set up her own studio with backing from Peggy Guggenheim, the American heiress and art patron. André Gide, Jean Cocteau, Janet Flanner and James Joyce were among the luminaries and socialites who came for sittings. Her subversive lens made for riveting portraits.
A number of Abbott’s images of New York appear to have been shot by drone or, in the technological equivalent for the day, a dirigible. They actually entailed her stationing herself precariously on the rooftops and ledges of the skyscrapers along Wall Street and Midtown.
That feat recalls the famous photograph of Abbott’s contemporary and fellow Ohioan Margaret Bourke-White taking a shot of the New York skyline astride one of the metallic eagle heads atop the Chrysler building. One can only wonder if a photograph of Abbott in a similarly heroic pose would have helped her recognition as the trailblazing documentarian she was.
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New York at Night
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in New York, NY
13.5 x 10.5 inch gelatin silver print, printed circa 1980 Framed to 26.5 x 22.5 inches Signed on verso Berenice Abbott's "New York at Night" is one ...
Silver Gelatin
Edward Hopper, 1947
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Signed and numbered in pencil on recto Gelatin Silver Print Image - 18"x23", Matted - 27"x33"
Silver Gelatin
WASHINGTON SQUARE LOOKING NORTH
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Portland, ME
Abbott, Berenice. WASHINGTON SQUARE LOOKING NORTH. Vintage Gelatin Silver print, 1936. Stamped verso "Federal Art Project/"Changing New York"/Photograp...
Silver Gelatin
Hoboken Ferry Terminal, Lackawanna Railroad, Barclay Street, New York
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in New York, NY
This work is offered by CLAMP in New York City.
Silver Gelatin
$17,200
Lyric Theatre Gelatin Silver Print, Hand Signed, 1979, 24x28 in.
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Aventura, FL
Lyric Theatre, 1936 Gelatin silver, printed circa 1979. Image size 14.5 x 19.25 inches. Hand signed. Numbered (Of 60) in pencil on mount recto. Frame size approx 24 x 28 inches. ...
Paper, Silver Gelatin
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Price Upon Request
New York Stock Exchange [Wall Street]
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in New York, NY
Gelatin silver print mounted to museum board Signed in pencil on overmat, l.r. Photographer's 'Abbott, Maine' stamp in black ink, verso of mount 9.5 x 7.5 inches, sheet 14 x 11 inches, mount 16.625 x 13.375 inches, overmat This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York...
Silver Gelatin
Price Upon Request
Theoline, Pier 11, East River, NY
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in New York, NY
Signed by the photographer.
Silver Gelatin
$716Sale Price|20% Off
H 20 in W 16 in
Alfred Stieglitz, Night, New York, 1947 (after)
By Alfred Stieglitz
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite halftone print after Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), titled Night, New York, originates from the 1947 folio Stieglitz Memorial Portfolio, 1864–1946. Published by Twice a...
Offset
$3,500
H 16 in W 20 in
Policewoman Playing Tag, New York City, Gelatin Silver Photograph, 16x20, Signed
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
Policewoman Playing Tag, New York City, 1978 by Leonard Freed, is a 16” x 20” gelatin silver photograph from the photographer's Police Work series and book. The photograph from the estate is stamped verso (back of photo) and signed by Brigitte Freed (widow). A black and white modern photograph...
Photographic Paper, Photographic Film, Silver Gelatin
$4,101
H 20 in W 30 in
Sparring - Chris Smith, Muhammad Ali, Ali, boxing, black and white, 20x30 in
By Chris Smith
Located in London, GB
Chris Smith (b.1937) Sparring silver gelatin fibre based print 20 x 30 in. / 34.5 x 48 in. / 46 x 66 in. signed and numbered printed later This work is available in the following si...
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$683
H 31.5 in W 25.01 in D 0.04 in
Foyer VIII, Milan - Italian design architecture interior color photography
By Richard Heeps
Located in Cambridge, GB
Foyer VIII, from Richard Heeps series A Short History of Milan which began as a special project for the 2018 Affordable Art Fair Milan. It was well received and the artwork has becom...
Photographic Paper, C Print, Color, Silver Gelatin
$1,150
H 20.15 in W 23.75 in D 1 in
Mission San Xavier Del Bac, Tucson Arizona
By Huntington Witherill
Located in San Francisco, CA
This Photograph titled "Mission San Xavier Del Bac, Tucson Arizona" is a gelatin silver print by noted American photographer Huntington Witherill, born ...
Silver Gelatin
$11,500
H 13.25 in W 10.5 in
Margaret Bourke-White Precisionist Steel Mill, Otis Steel Company, 1928
By Margaret Bourke-White
Located in Camden, ME
This commanding industrial photograph dates from 1928, a pivotal year in the early career of Margaret Bourke-White, and belongs to the body of work that established her as one of the...
Silver
$1,100
H 14 in W 11 in
Vintage Silver Gelatin Photograph Stanley Twardowicz Venice Italy Gondola Photo
By Stanley Twardowicz
Located in Surfside, FL
Black & white vintage photo of Venice Italy in 1952 by American Abstract Expressionism artist Stanley Twardowicz (1917-2008). It depicts a reflection of the buildings on the water of the canal with a gondola. Sheet is 14 x 11. Photo image measures 7.5" by 8.5" Stanley Twardowicz (1917 – 2008) was an American abstract painter and photographer. Twardowicz was born in Detroit, and studied at the Meinzinger Art School during World War II as well as working in a tank factory. Twardowicz began practicing photography on a 1948 trip to Mexico, and during the 1950s and 1960s he developed his painting style, related to color field paintings and abstract expressionism. He achieved some national recognition during the years he moved to Plainfield, New Jersey and became a regular at the famous Cedar Tavern in Greenwich Village, the meeting place of fellow abstract expressionists Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline and others. The Cedar Tavern (or Cedar Street Tavern) was a bar and restaurant at the eastern edge of Greenwich Village, New York City. Known as a gathering place for avant garde writers and artists, it was located at 24 University Place, near 8th Street. It was famous in its day as a hangout of many prominent Abstract Expressionist painters and Beat writers and poets. Robert Motherwell had a studio nearby in the early 1950s, and he held a weekly salon for artists there. Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Michael Goldberg, Lynne Drexler, Philip Guston, Ted Joans...
Silver Gelatin
$2,400
H 11 in W 14 in
Southern State, 1964, Civil Rights, Gelatin Silver Photograph, Signed, 11x14
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
The photograph Southern State, 1964 by Leonard Freed captures the American South of the 1960s. An 11” x 14” gelatin silver photograph from the photographer's Black in White America s...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$5,909
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Deena's back - Willy Ronis, 20th Century, French Humanist Photography
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the most famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right by the artist. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$1,700
H 8 in W 10 in
Stripper, Crazy Horse Saloon, Paris, France, 1956, Gelatin Silver Print, 8x10
By Burt Glinn
Located in New york, NY
American photographer Burt Glinn's Stripper, Crazy Horse Saloon, Paris, 1956, is an 8" x 10" gelatin silver print, with notations and the photographer's magnum stamp on verso (back o...
Photographic Film, Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
$6,000
H 12 in W 16 in
City Prison, New Orleans, Vintage Gelatin Silver Photo, Signed, Civil Rights 60s
By Leonard Freed
Located in New york, NY
City Prison, New Orleans, 1965 by American photographer Leonard Freed is a vintage gelatin silver print, signed verso (back of photo) by the photographer. It is an iconic image in th...
Silver Gelatin, Photographic Film, Photographic Paper
$5,790
H 15.75 in W 11.82 in
Avenue Simon Bolivar - Willy Ronis, 20th Century, French Humanist Photography
By Willy Ronis
Located in Paris, FR
One of the famous members of the Humanist photography in France. Signed lower right by the artist. Stamp of the artist's studio on the back.
Photographic Paper, Silver Gelatin
Pennsylvania Station Interior Study July 14th
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Carmel, CA
Incredible important historic photograph by one of the most famous women photographers. Excellent condition been framed since purchased. Signed in Pencil on Lower Right Recto Mat Dry...
Silver Gelatin
Sold
H 19.25 in W 15.125 in
Night View, New York (aka New York at Night)
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Berenice Abbott learned photography from the artist Man Ray when she was his studio assistant in Paris in 1923-1925. It was in Paris where Man Ray introduced her to the work of Eugèn...
Silver Gelatin
Fulton Street Market, Manhattan Skyline
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in New York, NY
8 x 10 inch vintage gelatin silver print Artist stamps and pencil notations on verso
Silver Gelatin
Herald Square, 34th Street
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in New York, NY
15 x 19.5 inch gelatin silver print, printed circa 1980 Signed and editioned on mount recto #21/60
Silver Gelatin
Atget
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Denton, TX
Signed.
Silver Gelatin
Designer's Window, Bleecker Street
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed on back of print with artist's stamp. Printed in the 1950's.
Silver Gelatin