BERENICE ABBOTT
Name: Bernice Abbott
Born: 17 July 1898 Springfield, Ohio
Died: 9 December 1991 Monson, Maine
Berenice Abbott (July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991), born Bernice Abbott, was an
American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York
City architecture and urban design of the 1930s.
Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio and brought up there by her divorced mother.
She attended the Ohio State University, but left in early 1918.
In 1918 she moved with friends from OSU to New York's Greenwich Village, where
she was 'adopted' by the anarchist Hippolyte Havel. She shared an apartment on
Greenwich Avenue with several others, including the writer Djuna Barnes,
philosopher Kenneth Burke, and literary critic Malcolm Cowley. At first she
pursued journalism, but soon became interested in theater and sculpture, perhaps
because of her interaction with artists Eugene O'Neill, Man Ray and Sadakichi
Hartmann. In 1919 she nearly died in the Spanish flu pandemic.
Abbott went to Europe in 1921, spending two years studying sculpture in Paris
and Berlin. During this time, she adopted the French spelling of her first name,
"Berenice," at the suggestion of Djuna Barnes. In addition to her work in the
visual arts, Abbott published poetry in the experimental literary journal
transition.
Abbott's first became involved with photography in 1923, when Man Ray, looking
for somebody who knew nothing about photography and thus would do as he said,
hired her as a darkroom assistant at his portrait studio in Montparnasse. Later
she would write: "I took to photography like a duck to water. I never wanted to
do anything else." Ray was impressed by her darkroom work and allowed her to use
his studio to take her own photographs. In 1926, she had her first solo
exhibition (in the gallery "Au Sacre du Printemps") and started her own studio
on the rue du Bac. After a short time studying photography in Berlin, she
returned to Paris in 1927 and started a second studio, on the rue Servandoni.
Abbott's subjects were people in the artistic and literary worlds, including
French nationals (Jean Cocteau), expatriates (James Joyce), and others just
passing through the city. According to Sylvia Beach, "To be 'done' by Man Ray or
Berenice Abbott meant you rated as somebody". Abbott's work was exhibited
with that of Man Ray, André Kertész, and others in Paris, in the "Salon de l'Escalier"
(more formally, the Premier Salon Indépendant de la Photographie), and on the
staircase of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her portraiture was unusual within
exhibitions of modernist photography held in 1928–9 in Brussels and Germany.
In 1925, Man Ray introduced her to Eugène Atget's photographs. She became a
great admirer of Atget's work, and managed to persuade him to sit for a portrait
in 1927. He died shortly thereafter. While the government acquired much of Atget's
archive — Atget had sold 2,621 negatives in 1920, and his friend and executor
André Calmettes sold 2,000 more immediately after his death — Abbott was
able to buy the remainder in June 1928, and quickly started work on its
promotion. An early tangible result was the 1930 book Atget, photographe de
Paris, in which she is described as photo editor. Abbott's work on Atget's
behalf would continue until her sale of the archive to the Museum of Modern Art
in 1968. In addition to her book The World of Atget (1964), she provided the
photographs for A Vision of Paris (1963), published a portfolio, Twenty
Photographs, and wrote essays. Her sustained efforts helped Atget gain
international recognition.
Name: Bernice Abbott
Born: 17 July 1898 Springfield, Ohio
Died: 9 December 1991 Monson, Maine
Berenice Abbott (July 17, 1898 – December 9, 1991), born Bernice Abbott, was an
American photographer best known for her black-and-white photography of New York
City architecture and urban design of the 1930s.
Abbott was born in Springfield, Ohio and brought up there by her divorced mother.
She attended the Ohio State University, but left in early 1918.
In 1918 she moved with friends from OSU to New York's Greenwich Village, where
she was 'adopted' by the anarchist Hippolyte Havel. She shared an apartment on
Greenwich Avenue with several others, including the writer Djuna Barnes,
philosopher Kenneth Burke, and literary critic Malcolm Cowley. At first she
pursued journalism, but soon became interested in theater and sculpture, perhaps
because of her interaction with artists Eugene O'Neill, Man Ray and Sadakichi
Hartmann. In 1919 she nearly died in the Spanish flu pandemic.
Abbott went to Europe in 1921, spending two years studying sculpture in Paris
and Berlin. During this time, she adopted the French spelling of her first name,
"Berenice," at the suggestion of Djuna Barnes. In addition to her work in the
visual arts, Abbott published poetry in the experimental literary journal
transition.
Abbott's first became involved with photography in 1923, when Man Ray, looking
for somebody who knew nothing about photography and thus would do as he said,
hired her as a darkroom assistant at his portrait studio in Montparnasse. Later
she would write: "I took to photography like a duck to water. I never wanted to
do anything else." Ray was impressed by her darkroom work and allowed her to use
his studio to take her own photographs. In 1926, she had her first solo
exhibition (in the gallery "Au Sacre du Printemps") and started her own studio
on the rue du Bac. After a short time studying photography in Berlin, she
returned to Paris in 1927 and started a second studio, on the rue Servandoni.
Abbott's subjects were people in the artistic and literary worlds, including
French nationals (Jean Cocteau), expatriates (James Joyce), and others just
passing through the city. According to Sylvia Beach, "To be 'done' by Man Ray or
Berenice Abbott meant you rated as somebody". Abbott's work was exhibited
with that of Man Ray, André Kertész, and others in Paris, in the "Salon de l'Escalier"
(more formally, the Premier Salon Indépendant de la Photographie), and on the
staircase of the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. Her portraiture was unusual within
exhibitions of modernist photography held in 1928–9 in Brussels and Germany.
In 1925, Man Ray introduced her to Eugène Atget's photographs. She became a
great admirer of Atget's work, and managed to persuade him to sit for a portrait
in 1927. He died shortly thereafter. While the government acquired much of Atget's
archive — Atget had sold 2,621 negatives in 1920, and his friend and executor
André Calmettes sold 2,000 more immediately after his death — Abbott was
able to buy the remainder in June 1928, and quickly started work on its
promotion. An early tangible result was the 1930 book Atget, photographe de
Paris, in which she is described as photo editor. Abbott's work on Atget's
behalf would continue until her sale of the archive to the Museum of Modern Art
in 1968. In addition to her book The World of Atget (1964), she provided the
photographs for A Vision of Paris (1963), published a portfolio, Twenty
Photographs, and wrote essays. Her sustained efforts helped Atget gain
international recognition.