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.
Find Berenice Abbott photography on 1stDibs.
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
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
GUS HILL'S MINSTRELS
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Portland, ME
Abbott, Berenice GUS HILL'S MINSTRELS Vintage Gelatin Silver print, 1936. Stamped verso "Federal Art Project/"Changing New York"/Photographs by Berenice Abbott" and also stamped and ...
Silver Gelatin
EL STATION - NINTH AVENUE LINE
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Portland, ME
Abbott, Berenice EL STATION - NINTH AVENUE LINE Vintage Gelatin Silver print, 1936. Stamped verso "Federal Art Project/"Changing New York"/Photographs by Berenice Abbott" and also s...
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
Lyric Theatre, 100 Third Avenue 1936, Hand Signed Gelatin Silver Print, Framed
By Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991
Located in Aventura, FL
Lyric Theatre, 100 Third Avenue 1936. Printed in 1982. Gelatin silver print on mounting sheet. Hand signed by Abbott lower right margin of the mount. Hand stamped reading "Bereni...
Paper, 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
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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
$4,057
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
$5,000
H 7.75 in W 7.75 in D 0.1 in
Plane and Sugar Loaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
By Michael Kenna
Located in Denton, TX
Edition of 45 Signed, titled, dated, and numbered. Michael Kenna's black and white photographs are powerful and alluring. His imagery transports you to iconic and placid landscapes ...
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
$450
H 6.69 in W 9.21 in D 0.01 in
Paris, Demonstration on Blvd St Germain, 1947 Silver Gelatin B and W Photography
By Associated Press
Located in Atlanta, GA
An original silver gelatin black and white photograph by the Associated Press, Paris. The view shows a demonstration with demonstrators and police on Boulevard Saint-Germain in June ...
Silver Gelatin
Mon Emmie - Topless In The Park
By Alli Wood
Located in Carmel, CA
Hand printed by artist Signed & Numbered Loose Print Printed to order
Silver Gelatin
The Abode of Snow
By Ansel Adams
Located in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
Signed with printed title on front of print. From 'Parmelian Prints of the High Sierra', limited edition of 100 copies. This is a parmelian print, warm in tone.
Silver Gelatin
Wooden Boat, Canoe on River
By Roman Loranc
Located in Carmel, CA
Hand printed by artist Edition 10/40 Dry mounted to 16x20"
Silver Gelatin
$2,250
H 20.25 in W 26.25 in D 1 in
Myron Wood 1967 South Park Colorado Sheep Storm Vintage Gelatin Silver Photo
By Myron Wood
Located in Denver, CO
A powerful vintage gelatin silver photograph by acclaimed American photographer Myron Wood (1921–1999), titled "Sheep, Storm, South Park, Colorado," created in 1967. One of Wood's mo...
Photographic Film
$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
$11,500
H 13.25 in W 10.5 in
1928 Margaret Bourke-White Precisionist Otis Steel Co Industrial Photo Print
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 definitive body of work that established her as...
Silver
Barns
By Gerard Giliberti
Located in East Hampton, NY
Title: Barns Black & White Photography Edition of 10 Also available in 20"x30" Edition of 10 *Photography: U Wash Truck, Death Valley and Mulford Lane, Amagansett 2012 have been ...
Archival Pigment
Peek-A-Boo Beatles (1965) - Silver Gelatin Print
Located in London, GB
Peek-A-Boo Beatles (1937) - Silver Gelatin Print (Photo by R. McPhedran/Express/Getty Images) 14th June 1965: The British rock group The Beatles stand in a window at Twickenham Fil...
Black and White, 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