Ilse Bing
Rooftops, New York

Rooftops, New York

© Estate of Ilse Bing Wolff

Rooftops, New York
Rooftops, New York
ArtistAmerican, born Germany, 1899–1998
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Rooftops, New York
Date1951
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 15 15/16 × 19 7/8 in. (40.5 × 50.5 cm)
Sheet: 15 15/16 × 19 7/8 in. (40.5 × 50.5 cm)
Credit LineGift of the estate of Ilse Bing Wolff
Object number2001.417
Not on view

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Department
Photography
Object Type
Description

In 1941 the war raging in Europe led Bing to move to New
York City, where she continued to innovate in technique while remaining drawn
to the urban landscape’s abstract shapes and layering of time and memory. Soon she was busy with commissions for advertisements and
portraits, including from such prestigious clients as President Eisenhower. She
began working at a larger scale around 1950. From a field of antennae above
urban rooftops to discarded newspapers strewn on steps, Bing’s views of her
adopted city are hard-edged and high-contrast. Despite that new harshness, she
still tried to uncover the
strange sense of a life force residing in
inanimate objects.




ProvenanceEstate of Ilse Bing Wolff, New York; given to MFAH, 2001.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in pencil, verso, bottom center edge: [854-279-E12]
Inscribed in pencil, verso, lower left: AA
Inscribed in pencil, verso, lower rigth upside down: 11 [illegible]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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