Berenice Abbott was famously resistant to the ever human temptation towards prettification, revelling instead in contrasts in both nature and culture. She took this image on December 5, 1935 with an eye to illuminating the play between all of the urban elements, while capturing the ever-increasing dominance of the New York skyscraper. She wrote once: "The concern is not with the architectural rendering of detail, the buildings of 1935 overshadowing all else, but with a synthesis which shows the skyscraper in relation to the less colossal edifices which preceded it: city vistas, waterways, highways and means of transportation; areas where peculiarly urban aspects of human living can be observed; city squares where the trees die for lack of sun and air; narrow and dark canyons where visibility fails because there is no light; litter blowing about a waterfront slip; relics of the age of General Grant and Queen Victoria where these have survived; the onward march of the steam shovel, all these things and many more comprise New York City in 1935."
+ 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 to allow for framing.
Medium:
Innova Fibaprint Warm Cotton Gloss
Edition Structure:
10"x8" | edition of 50
14"x11" | edition of 500
20"x16" | edition of 50
