Friday, May 19, 2017

New Deal Bridge Art (4/5): Manhattan Bridge(s)

 
Above: "Manhattan Bridge," a gelatin silver print photograph by Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project (FAP), 1936. According to the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum, "In February of 1935, Abbott sent a [photography] proposal to the FAP, a division of the Works Progress Administration that financially assisted certain art projects... Finally in September she received funding for her Changing New York project. She was approved $145 per month, total artistic freedom and was given a 1930 Ford Roadster" (Abbot most likely made her proposal in conjunction with a museum, school, or government agency; or perhaps a history, art, or civic organization). Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: "Manhattan Bridge," a lithograph by Louis Lozowick (1892-1973), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Lozowick's "preferred medium was lithography. He made nearly 300 prints, using this method. 'He was making prints when they weren't popular,' Mrs. Lozowick said. 'He liked the bold and powerful black and white effects of the lithograph'" ("The Urban Legacy of Louis Lozowick," New York Times, November 15, 1981). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

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