Exchange Place from Broadway (Broadway and Exchange Place; View of Exhange Place from Broadway, New York)
Berenice Abbott, American, 1898 - 1991
negative early 1930s; print 1980s
Gelatin silver print
Sheet: 19 3/8 × 5 1/4 in. (49.2 × 13.3 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Jane and Raphael Bernstein
2010.84.1
Geography
Place Imaged: New York, United States, North America
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
20th century
Object Name
Photograph
Research Area
Photograph
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed, on mount, in graphite, lower center: BERENICE ABBOTT
Label
This photograph presents a constricted view of the city in terms of both content and form. First, notice how the vertical framing of the photo itself is reinforced by the verticality of the densely urbanized area. The towering effect of these Broadway skyscrapers is emphasized by their proximity and the narrow road that separates them. The photograph appears to stretch as tall as it is wide into the cityscape’s distant horizon. Perhaps this is due to the creative use of a panoramic lens. Alternatively, the way that the street curves in the distance and the sea of urbanites fades with it suggests continuity—where we might expect a natural skyline, our line of sight is instead disrupted by an endless concrete jungle.
From the 2025 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 125, Chasing Modernity: Fleeting Moments and Elusive Urbanity, curated by Ellie Brown ’25, Conroy Intern
Course History
ARTH 17, The Power of Place: Urban and Rural Images in American Art, 1900-1945, Sarah Powers, Winter 2014
ARTH 17, The Power of Place: Urban and Rural Images in American Art, 1900-1945, Sarah Powers, Winter 2014
Art History 48.02, Histories of Photography, Katie Hornstein, Spring 2024
Spanish 80.26, USA in Lorca, Buñuel & Dalí, José del Pino, Spring 2024
Exhibition History
Berenice Abbott’s Changing New York, Israel Sack Gallery [American Works on Paper Wall], Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 16-November 10, 2013.
Provenance
Commerce Graphics Ltd., New York, New York; sold to Jane and Raphael Bernstein, Ridgewood, New Jersey, February 12, 1990; lent to present collection, 2010; given to present collection, 2013.
This record is part of an active database that includes information from historic documentation that may not have been recently reviewed. Information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We also acknowledge some language and imagery may be offensive, violent, or discriminatory. These records reflect the institution’s history or the views of artists or scholars, past and present. Our collections research is ongoing.
We welcome questions, feedback, and suggestions for improvement. Please contact us at: Hood.Collections@dartmouth.edu