Berenice Abbott
Church of God

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Images(3)

Artist Berenice Abbott American, 1898–1991

CultureAmerican

Titles

Church of God

DateDecember 8, 1936

Place depictedNew York, New York, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 7 5/8 × 9 5/8 in. (19.4 × 24.4 cm)
Sheet: 7 15/16 × 9 7/8 in. (20.2 × 25.1 cm)

Credit LineBequest of Morgan Garwood

Object number2014.97

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionInspired by Eugène Atget’s photographs of a disappearing Paris, in which she found “the real world, seen with wonderment and surprise,” Berenice Abbott set out to chronicle the look and life of New York City. Her decade-long project, which began in 1929 after an eight-year sojourn in Paris and culminated in her 1940 book Changing New York, ultimately comprised more than 700 images carefully exposed with an 8x10-inch camera. At the Pilgrim Pentecostal Church of God, a storefront church at 25 East 132nd Street in Harlem, Abbott brought together in a single picture her interest in New York’s architecture, people, and activities. Reverend Elder Johnson, seen descending the church steps, was pastor to the congregation’s 28 members.
ProvenanceMorgan Garwood, New York; bequeathed to MFAH, 2014.
Exhibition History“A Critical Eye: Mid-Century American Photographs from the Morgan Garwood Collection,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, July 23–November 2, 2014.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in pencil, verso, top right: reprocessed by G[eorge] .A Tice Feb‘71
Stamped in black ink, verso, upper center: FEDERAL ART PROJECT // “Changing New York” // PHOTOGRAPHS BY BERENICE ABBOTT [with rectangular border]
Stamped in black ink with pencil additions, verso, lower center: Title: Church of God. // Place: 25 East 132nd Street, Manhattan // Angle // of View: // Date: December 8, 1936 // Neg. #188 // Code: III F2
Inscribed in pneicl, verso, lower right: hinge // on // 16 x 20 //overmat

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