Skip to Main Content

 Admission is always freeOpen today: 10:00  to 5:00  Directions             Play Artle            

                  -  Visit                      - Visit
                    - Getting Here
                    - Accessibility
                    - Tours, Guides & Maps
                    - Food & Drink
                    - Gallery Shops
                    - Visitor Policies 
                  -  Collection                      - Collection
                    - Highlights
                    - Search the Collection
                    - Artists Search
                    - Acquisition Highlights
                    - Stories
                    - Games 
                  -  Exhibitions                      - Exhibitions
                    - Current
                    - Special Installations
                    - Upcoming
                    - On Tour
                    - Past 
                  -  Calendar                      - Calendar
                    - Films
                    - Performances
                    - Talks
                    - Guided Tours
                    - After Hours
                    - Fun for Kids
                    - Festivals
                    - Workshops 
                  -  Learn                      - Learn
                    - Teachers
                    - Families
                    - Teens
                    - Adults
                    - Learning Resources
                    - Music Programs
                    - Film Programs 
                  -  Conservation                      - Conservation
                    - Projects
                    - Publications
                    - Resources 
                  -  Research                      - Research
                    - The Center
                    - Publications
                    - Make an Appointment
                    - Archives
                    - Library
                    - NGA Online Editions 
                  -  Support                      - Support
                    - Donate Now
                    - National Membership
                    - Circle Membership
                    - Leadership Groups
                    - Planned Giving
                    - Major Giving
                    - Gifts of Art 
                  -  Shop                      - Shop
                    - Books
                    - Jewelry
                    - Apparel & Accessories
                    - Kids
                    - NGA Custom Prints 
                  -  Play Artle

Home>Exhibitions>Past>2020>The City

# The City

Past Exhibition

## February 20, 2020 – February 27, 2022East Building, Ground Level - Gallery 106A

Towering skyscrapers, massive steel bridges, and the hubbub of city streets captivated artists working in the first half of the twentieth century. Roaming the rapidly changing urban environment, they explored ways to convey the awe-inspiring scale and speed of the modern American city. For photographers, technological advances such as hand-held cameras and faster film and shutter speeds enabled new visual practices, from off-kilter, oblique views and bird’s and worm’s eye vantage points to the blurred effects of motion. Printmakers likewise experimented with cropped compositions and varying proportions to underscore verticality or broad expanse.

Drawn to the social strata of the metropolis, artists portrayed a wide variety of city-dwellers going about their daily lives. The dynamic geometry of the skyline and vitality of the city offered endless sources of inspiration, from the dramatically cast shadows of cavernous streets, the cadence of drying laundry suspended in rows, and the swirling forms of Coney Island’s amusement rides to the repeating curves of ornamental lampposts and the dazzling lights of the city at night.

## Selected Works

The City
Alfred Stieglitz, *From the Back-Window—291*, 1915, platinum print, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1949.3.372

The City
Martin Lewis, *Glow of the City*, 1929, drypoint in black on wove paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.5710

The City
Ilse Bing, *Laundry, New York*, 1936, gelatin silver print, Gift of Ilse Bing Wolff, 2001.147.64

The City
Samuel L. Margolies, *Man's Canyons*, 1936, etching and aquatint, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.3331

The City
Berenice Abbott, *Canyon, Broadway and Exchange Place*, 1936, gelatin silver print, The Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Fund for Photography, 2000.148.1

The City
Armin Landeck, *View of New York*, 1932, lithograph in black on wove paper, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.3010

The City
Ilse Bing, *View from Hotel Algonquin, New York*, 1936, gelatin silver print, Gift of Ilse Bing Wolff, 2001.147.65

The City
Victoria Hutson Huntley, *Lower New York*, 1934, lithograph in black on wove paper, Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy, 2015.115.23

The City
Jolán Gross-Bettelheim, *Bowery*, c. 1938, lithograph in black on wove paper, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Florian Carr Fund and Gift of the Print Research Foundation, 2008.115.79

The City
Walter Rosenblum, *Girl on a Swing, Pitt Street, New York*, 1938, gelatin silver print, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2001.67.184

The City
Walter Rosenblum, *Boy on a Roof, Pitt Street, New York*, 1950, gelatin silver print, Patrons' Permanent Fund, 2001.67.185

The City
Howard Cook, *Manhattan Bridge*, 1931, wood engraving in black on wove paper, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.1312

The City
Esther Bubley, *Manhattan Bridge, New York*, c. 1947, gelatin silver print, The Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Fund for Photography, 1999.108.2

The City
Clara E. Sipprell, *Sixth Avenue, New York*, 1920s, silver print, R. K. Mellon Family Foundation, 2011.31.1

The City
Ruth Orkin, *Starlight Roof at the Waldorf, New York City*, 1950, gelatin silver print, The Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Fund for Photography, 2000.83.3

The City
Johan Hagemeyer, *Pedestrians*, 1921, gelatin silver print mounted on brown wove paper on paperboard, The Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Fund for Photography and The Amy Rose Silverman Fund, 2003.11.1

The City
Martin Lewis, *Shadow Dance*, 1930, drypoint and etching in black on laid paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1964.8.1199

The City
Godfrey Frankel, *Times Square Restaurant, Looking Out on Street*, 1946, gelatin silver print, Corcoran Collection (Gift of the artist), 2015.19.4317

The City
Martin Lewis, Society of American Graphic Artists, *Chance Meeting*, 1940-1941, drypoint in black on laid paper, Corcoran Collection (Society of American Etchers, Inc.), 2015.19.515

The City
Walker Evans, *Subway Portrait*, 1938-1941, gelatin silver print, Gift of Kent and Marcia Minichiello, 1988.56.40

The City
Walker Evans, *Subway Portrait*, 1938-1941, gelatin silver print, John Wilmerding Fund, 1989.11.2

The City
Mabel Dwight, George C. Miller, *Ferry Boat*, 1930, lithograph in black on Rives BFK wove paper, Gift of Bob Stana and Tom Judy, 2015.115.15

The City
Benton Spruance, *The People Work - Evening*, 1937, lithograph in black on Rives BFK paper, Rosenwald Collection, 1943.3.7988

The City
Lisette Model, *42nd Street from the Sixth Avenue Subway, New York*, 1940-1941, gelatin silver print, The Marvin Breckinridge Patterson Fund for Photography, 1998.137.1

The City
Phyllis (Pele) De Lappe, *Subway*, 1932, lithograph, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.1434

The City
Louis Lozowick, *Luna Park*, 1926, lithograph in black on wove paper, Ruth and Jacob Kainen Collection, 1989.80.11

The City
Benton Spruance, *The People Play-Spring*, 1941, lithograph in black on wove paper, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.4565

The City
Sid Grossman, *San Gennaro Festival, New York City*, 1948, gelatin silver print, Anonymous Gift, 2007.107.6

The City
Alvin Langdon Coburn, *New York*, 1910, bound volume of 20 photogravures, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund, 2009.134.1

The City
Charles Turzak, *Man with Drill*, 1931, woodcut, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.4790

## About the Series: American Art, 1900–1950: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs

During a period fueled by enormous urban growth and technological changes, riven by world wars, and rocked by new modes of thought, American artists explored many diverse means to express their changing experience and environment. Prints, drawings, and photographs were vital media through which artists pursued radical experiments in form, figuration, and abstraction. Reevaluating European traditions, they developed new ways of seeing the modern world around them.

Complementing the American modernist paintings and sculptures in the adjacent galleries, these rotating installations feature prints, drawings, and photographs by American artists working in the first half of the 20th century. By looking at pairs or groups of artists, or at broader themes such as abstract portraiture or the Machine Age, the installations spark conversations between established and lesser-known figures in American modernism and highlight the era’s full range and complexity.

## Past Exhibitions from this Series

Alfred Stieglitz and His Circle
September 30, 2016–April 11, 2017

Made in America: Radical Figures
April 12–November 15, 2017

Machine Age Modernism
November 17, 2017–May 29, 2018

Alfred Stieglitz and John Marin
June 1–December 10, 2018

Diverse Modernisms, 1935-1955
December 13, 2018–July 30, 2019

American Surreal: Arshile Gorky and Nathan Lerner
July 31, 2019–February 2020

**Organization**                        Organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington                    

**Passes** Admission is always free and passes are not required

**Banner detail**: Charles Turzak, *Man with Drill*, 1931, woodcut, Reba and Dave Williams Collection, Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 2008.115.4790

### Stay connected

Learn more about our exhibitions, news, programs, and special offers.

About
            - About the National Gallery
            - Stories
            - Press
            - FAQs
            - Contact Us

Plan a Visit
            - Getting Here
            - Accessibility
            - Today's Tours
            - Food & Drink
            - Calendar
            - Downloadable Map

Get Involved
            - Donate
            - Membership
            - Volunteer
            - Opportunities
            - Shop Online

Resources
            - Search the Collection
            - Conservation
            - Library
            - Archives
            - The Center
            - Film Programs
            - Music Programs
            - Audio/Video
            - Open Access Images

Hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily

**West Building**6th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter or exit from Constitution Avenue, 4th Street, or 7th Street. The Madison Drive entrance is currently closed.*

**East Building**4th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 4th Street.*

**Sculpture Garden**7th St and Constitution Ave NW*Enter and exit from 7th Street, Constitution Avenue, or Madison Drive.*

We are closed on December 25 and January 1.

*The National Gallery of Art serves the nation by welcoming all people to explore and experience art, creativity, and our shared humanity.*

            -  Twitter 
            -  Facebook 
            -  Instagram 
            -  Pinterest 
            -  YouTube 

© 2024 National Gallery of Art   Notices   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy