El, 2nd and 3rd Avenue Lines: Hanover Square and Pearl Street, Manhattan, 1936
1936
Silver print
25.3 x 20.8 cm (9 15/16 x 8 3/16 in.)
The slanting shape of an imposing metal subway viaduct covers almost the entire frame of El, 2nd and 3rd Avenue Lines: Hanover Square and Pearl Street, Manhattan, 1936. Its dark openwork silhouette gives the work a highly contrasted chiaroscuro effect.
Fascinated by its formal beauty, Abbott photographed this Manhattan bridge several times for "Changing New York", the massive photo project that she tirelessly worked on from 1935 to 1939. Abbott was entirely devoted to making a portrait of the burgeoning metropolis. She wanted her project to have a documentary, social and aesthetic dimension at the same time.
El, 2nd and 3rd Avenue Lines: Hanover Square and Pearl Street, Manhattan, 1936 was exhibited for the first time by the Pinault Collection at the 2019 show "Luogo e Segni" ("Place and Signs") at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
Fascinated by its formal beauty, Abbott photographed this Manhattan bridge several times for "Changing New York", the massive photo project that she tirelessly worked on from 1935 to 1939. Abbott was entirely devoted to making a portrait of the burgeoning metropolis. She wanted her project to have a documentary, social and aesthetic dimension at the same time.
El, 2nd and 3rd Avenue Lines: Hanover Square and Pearl Street, Manhattan, 1936 was exhibited for the first time by the Pinault Collection at the 2019 show "Luogo e Segni" ("Place and Signs") at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
Exhibitions
© Getty Images
