Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991)

LOT ID: 28931

Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8, ie. circa 1936

Silver Print, gelatin silver print

10.5 х 13.5 in. (26.67 x 34.29 cm.)

Signed, print is signed and numbered 4/60 recto

Edition 4/60

Lot description

Berenice Abbott, Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8, March 20, 1936. Gelatin silver prints, 10.5 x 13.5 inches, 26.6 x 34.3 centimeters. Mounted on 16 x 20 inch (40.6 x 50.8 centimeters) museum board. Edition 4 of 60. Signed. Comes with original documentary sheets.

Published in 1979 from the original negative.

Berenice Abbott (1898-1991)

The challenge for me has first been to see things as they are, whether a portrait, a city street, or a bouncing ball. In a word, I have tried to be objective. What I mean by objectivity is not the objectivity of a machine, but of a sensible human being with the mystery of personal selection at the heart of it. The second challenge has been to impose order onto the things seen and to supply the visual context and the intellectual framework – that to me is the art of photography.
—Berenice Abbott

At age seventy-seven Berenice Abbott thus explained her approach to making images. She learned photography in the 1920s in Paris, as a studio assistant of fellow American expatriate Man Ray. She soon opened her own portrait studio, where she photographed artists and intellectuals living in Paris, including James Joyce and Eugène Atget. After Atget's death, Abbott was instrumental in promoting his work by preserving his prints and negatives and arranging for publications and exhibitions of his photographs. She returned to the United States and began to photograph the architectural landscape of New York City, which resulted in the publication Changing New York. She taught at the New School for Social Research in New York from the 1930s until 1958.[getty.edu]

Literature and Catalogue Raisoneé
Literature and Catalogue Raisoneé
Publication:

Abbott, Berenice. Berenice Abbott / by Hank O'Neal, Berenice Abbott (Photographer). Gottingen : Steidl Photography International, 2008. Yochelson, Bonnie. Berenice Abbott : Changing New York / Bonnie Yochelson. New York : New Press : Museum of the City of New York : Distributed by W.W. Norton & Co., c1997. Abbott, Berenice. Berenice Abbott / with an essay by Julia Van Haaften. New York, N.Y. : Aperture Foundation, 1988. O’Neal, Hank. Berenice Abbott, American photographer / by Hank O’Neal ; introduction by John Canaday ; commentary by Berenice Abbott. New York : McGraw-Hill, c1982. Lanier, Henry Wysham. Greenwich Village, today & yesterday. Photographs by Berenice Abbott. New York, Harper [1949]. Abbott, Berenice. Changing New York; photographs by Berenice Abbott, text by Elizabeth McCausland; a publication of the Federal art project of the Works progress administration in the city of New York, under the sponsorship of the Guilds’ committee for Federal writers’ publications, inc. New York, E.P. Dutton & company, inc., 1939.
Condition Report
Condition Report
No condition report has been added for this lot. Please contact the specialist for further information.
History and Provenance
History and Provenance
Shipping Information
Shipping Information
Shipping Carrier:
Fine Art Shipper

Shipping Weight: 5 lbs

Framing: No

Item Location: Florida, USA

Shipping Options:
Shipping weight is approximate, buyer pays for shipping handling and insurance.
Payment and Return Policies
Payment and Return Policies
Accepted:
Check

Sales Tax: Florida

Seller's Return Policy:
A Buyer may return an item purchased through artnet Online Auctions, if the item received is substantially different from its listing, or is found to be inauthentic. In order to receive a refund, the Buyer must notify the Seller of his intention to return the item as “not as described” within seven (7) days of receipt. Additionally, the Buyer must notify the Seller within thirty (30) days if the item has been found inauthentic. Right of return applies only to the original purchaser, and is non-transferable.

artnet Assurance Policy:
Every artnet Auctions seller has been approved by artnet after a thorough review. All of our sellers are required to accept the following artnet policy: A buyer may return an item purchased through artnet Online Auctions, if the item received is not as described in its listing, or is found to be not authentic.
Please see our full Return Policy for details.

Purchase Now

You are purchasing this lot for US$.*

Click Continue to place your order.

*The purchase now price excludes taxes (if applicable) and a 20% buyer's premium on all lots under US$250,000 and a 10% buyer's premium on all lots with a winning bid or purchase now price of US$250,000 or above.

Purchase Now

Congratulations, you have purchased a lot on artnet Auctions!

Proceed to Items Won >

SmartBid

CONFIRMATION

The artnet SmartBid Service will automatically bid on your behalf up to US$.

artnet SmartBid will immediately meet the reserve price if your maximum bid is over the reserve. If the lot does not have a reserve price, it will immediately bid to the next increment level.

artnet SmartBid will then raise your bid up to your maximum bid by increment. But it will never raise your bid above the reserve price unless other bidders placed competitive bids on the lot.

Click Bid Now to place your bid.

SmartBid

Enter your maximum bid below. It must be US$ or higher:

Maximum bid: US$

*The maximum bid excludes taxes (if applicable) and a 20% buyer's premium on all lots with a winning bid under US$250,000 and a 10% buyer's premium on all lots with a winning bid or purchase now price of US$250,000 or above.

How does bidding work?

SmartBid

Thanks. Your bid has been placed on this lot.

Contact the Specialist

Christopher Sweet

(212) 497-9700 165

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Subject

Lot ID

28931

Artist

Berenice Abbott

Title

Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8

Message

Contact the Specialist

Your message has been sent successfully. The artnet Auctions specialist for this lot will respond to you shortly.

Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991) LOT ID: 28931 Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8, ie. circa 1936

CONFIRMATION

Christopher Sweet

Sales Results for Comparable Works

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott (American, 1898–1991)

LOT ID: 28931

Fifth Avenue, Nos. 4, 6, 8, ie. circa 1936