Rockefeller Center with Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Foreground
Artist
Berenice Abbott
(American, 1898-1991)
CultureAmerican
DateDecember 8, 1936
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 9 7/8 × 7 7/8 in. (25.1 × 20 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
InscribedSee labels tab: the reverse has four different ink stamps and pencil inscriptions.
Credit LineGift of Joyce and Robert Menschel in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank
Object number2003.3
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a gelatin silver print of Rockefeller Center with the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in the foreground, at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street in Manhattan, New York. The viewer looks upward, toward the sky, from street-level. The steeple of Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas extends beyond the top edge of the print; various buildings are seen in the background. A shadow covers the front entrance of the Church.Label TextBerenice Abbott American (1898-1991) Rockefeller Center with Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas in Foreground, December 8, 1936 Gelatin-silver print Gift of Joyce and Robert Menschel in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank to the Chrysler Museum of Art 2003.3 ~ The photograph is reproduced as number 67 in Abbott's Changing New York, published in 1939. The following text was reproduced alongside the photograph. The Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street was pronounced by the late Dean Stanley of the Church of England to be the finest piece of ecclesiastical architecture he had seen in America. Rising above it, the steel skeleton of Rockefeller Center's Time & Life Building and the white tower of the RCA Building are a dramatic index of change in the metropolis. Inspired by the work of Eugène Atget, Berenice Abbott made a series of photographs of New York documenting the rapidly changing cityscape. In the 1930s, old buildings were demolished to allow for the construction of soaring skyscrapers. Abbott worked for the Works Project Administration's Federal Art Project to record the vanishing structures, as well as the construction of new buildings. Her photographs are the finest systematic record of this momentous period in New York City's history. This print was included in the 1981 Chrysler exhibition Portrait of New York: Photographs of New York in the 1930s by Berenice Abbott. In addition to this vintage photograph, the Chrysler collection includes one later print by Abbott.ProvenanceRobert and Joyce Menschel, New York, New York; Gift of Robert and Joyce Menschel in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 2003. Exhibition History"Portrait of New York: Photographs of New York in the 1930s by Berenice Abbott," Chrysler Museum, Oct. 17, 1980 - Jan. 4, 1981. "Silver Images: The Photography Collection at 25," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., November 5, 2003 - August 2004. Published ReferencesPhotographs by Berenice Abbott, text by Elizabeth McCausland, _New York in the Thirties_ (New York: Dover Publications reprint of _Changing New York_, 1973), no. 67. Elizabeth McCausland, _New York in the Thirties: As Photographed by Berenice Abbott_ (New York: Dover Publications, Inc.. 1967) p. 67 ISBN: 0-486-22967-X Formerly Titled: "Changing New York"
Pair/Pair
