Penn Station, Interior, Manhattan

by Berenice Abbott

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Artist Statement

Penn Station, Interior, Manhattan isn’t just quintessentially Abbott—it’s a metaphor for her mode of seeing, her approach to documenting and understanding the city. Abbott saw New York City through its architecture, and what could represent a “Changing New York” more than Penn Station itself. Shot in the late 1930s, this image depicts the original structure of this NYC landmark right in the middle of its 53-year lifespan. At the time, it served as a symbol of progress, industrialization, and architectural mastery. Today, it is a reflection on loss, nostalgia, and the importance of historical preservation.

Why We Love It

Abbott’s work with Changing New York was as much a creative endeavor as a sociological study. Her goal was to distill and translate the personified essence of NYC into photographic form, while capturing its hustle and bustle, its culture and traditions, its crowded real estate, its endless reinvention and superimposition. Penn Station packs an artistic punch with poignant sociological observation. For the history buffs, urbanites, or architecture aficionados in our midst, it’s a collectible moment not to be missed...Read more on the blog!

Details

+ Limited-edition, exclusive to 20x200
+ Museum quality: archival inks, 100% cotton rag paper unless noted
+ Handcrafted custom-framing is available

Our quoted dimensions are for the size of paper containing the images, not the printed image itself. We do not alter the aspect ratio, nor do we crop or resize the artists’ originals. All of our prints have a minimum border of .5 inches and maximum of 2.5” to allow for framing.

Medium:

Innova Exhibition Photo Baryta IFA 69

8"x10" | edition of 10
11"x14" | edition of 150
16"x20" | edition of 25
20"x24" | edition of 10

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott was an American photographer best known for her black and white photography of New York City architecture and urban design of the 1930s. Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio. She attended the Ohio State University, but left in early 1918. Abbott went to Europe in 1921, spending two years studying sculpture in Paris and Berlin. In addition to her work in the visual arts, Abbott published poetry in the experimental literary journal transition. Abbott first became involved with photography in 1923, when Man Ray, looking for somebody who knew nothing about photography and thus would do as he... Read More
said, hired her as a darkroom assistant at his portrait studio in Montparnasse. In 1926, she had her first solo exhibition (in the gallery Au Sacre du Printemps) and started her own studio on the rue du Bac. In early 1929, Abbott visited New York and was struck by its photographic potential. She moved to the city and began work on her New York project, which she worked on independently until 1935, when she was hired by the Federal Art Project as a project supervisor for her Changing New York project. She continued to take the photographs of the city, but she had assistants to help her both in the field and in the office. This arrangement allowed Abbott to devote all her time to producing, printing and exhibiting her photographs. By the time she resigned from the FAP in 1939, she had produced 305 photographs that were then deposited at the Museum of the City of New York.
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