WHEN MUSEUMS REDISCOVERED ABBOTT

Abbott, Berenice (1898–1991)

Berenice Abbott Photographs: Portraits, New York, Science [Traveling Exhibition Brochure - 1978] [Cape Split Place Exhibition]

THE EXHIBITION THAT REINTRODUCED BERENICE ABBOTT TO A NEW GENERATION.

Issued in conjunction with a major traveling exhibition of Berenice Abbott's work, this substantial brochure documents one of the most important late-career presentations of her photography. Organized by Cape Split Place in Maine while Abbott was still living, the exhibition subsequently traveled to the Colby Museum of Art, Harvard University's Fogg Art Museum, the University of New Hampshire, and The William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut.

More than a simple announcement, the brochure serves as a concise exhibition catalog and checklist, presenting Abbott's three principal bodies of work—Portraits, New York, and Science. Included are many of her most celebrated images, from portraits of James Joyce, Eugène Atget, Sylvia Beach, and Jean Cocteau to iconic New York views and her pioneering scientific photographs produced in the 1950s and 1960s.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Folded cardstock exhibition brochure. Measures approximately 7 x 10.5 inches closed. Printed in black and white throughout. Four-panel format featuring a photographic cover image, complete exhibition checklist of thirty photographs, exhibition venues and dates, and an interpretive essay by Paul Katz. Cover photograph identified as John Watts from Trinity Churchyard.

CONDITION: Text is clean; light, even age-toning. Minor moisture mark visible near the lower portion of the front cover. Gentle handling wear and light age-related soiling. Interior remains clean and fully legible. A solid Very Good example of an ephemeral exhibition piece seldom encountered in the trade.

DETAILS
+++ Title: Berenice Abbott Photographs: Portraits, New York, Science
+++ Author / Photographer: Berenice Abbott
+++ Issued By: Cape Split Place
+++ Place: Addison, Maine
+++ Date: 1978
+++ Format: Folded exhibition brochure
+++ Size: 7 x 10.5 inches
+++ Pagination: Four-panel folded format
+++ Illustration: Photographic cover image and complete exhibition checklist

CONTENT HIGHLIGHTS
+++ Documents a major traveling exhibition of Berenice Abbott's work
+++ Complete checklist of thirty exhibited photographs
+++ Includes literary and artistic portraits of James Joyce, Eugène Atget, Jean Cocteau, Sylvia Beach, and others
+++ Features Abbott's celebrated New York photographs from the 1930s
+++ Includes her later scientific photography experiments
+++ Contains a contemporary essay by Paul Katz

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE —
Produced in 1978 while Abbott remained actively engaged with the photographic community, this brochure captures a pivotal moment in the reassessment of her work. The exhibition brought together the three defining strands of her career—Paris portraits, New York documentary photography, and scientific imagery—offering museum audiences a comprehensive view of her achievement just over a decade before her death. As a result, it serves both as exhibition ephemera and as a compact documentary record of Abbott's artistic legacy.

The exhibition was organized around the three major phases of Abbott's career. The portrait section includes figures central to modernist literary and artistic culture, including Sylvia Beach, Jane Heap, Janet Flanner, Eugène Atget, Jean Cocteau, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and two portraits of James Joyce. The New York section presents selections from Abbott's celebrated documentation of the city during the 1930s, including Night View, Penn Station, A & P, Christopher Street Shop, and Columbus Circle Coca-Cola. 

The science section highlights the experimental imagery that occupied Abbott during the latter portion of her career, including Light Through a Prism, Wide Pendulum, Magnetic Induction with Key, and Flying Wrench.
The brochure also includes a contemporary appreciation by Paul Katz, who positions Abbott's work within the traditions of Atget, Nadar, Hine, and straight photography while discussing her enduring influence on later Minimalist and Conceptual movements.

SUBJECTS: Berenice Abbott; Photography Exhibitions; New York Photography; Documentary Photography; Scientific Photography; James Joyce; Eugène Atget; Jean Cocteau; Harvard Fogg Art Museum; Colby Museum of Art; Museum Ephemera; Twentieth-Century Photography, Photography; Exhibition Ephemera; Museum History; American Art.

Item #22065

Price: $45.00