Hans Hofmann
Artist
Rudy Burckhardt
(American, 1914–1999)
Dateabout 1948
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionsplate: 25.5 x 22.1 cm (10 1/16 x 8 11/16 in.)
sheet: 34 x 27.8 cm (13 3/8 x 10 15/16 in.)
sheet: 34 x 27.8 cm (13 3/8 x 10 15/16 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineHeald Foundation Fund
Object number1996.48
Label TextAs a painter, photographer, and filmmaker, Burckhardt linked New York artists of different generations. He moved to the city in 1935 with his life partner the poet Edwin Denby. There they shared a loft on West 21st Street next door to Willem de Kooning.
De Kooning introduced Burckhardt and Denby to his wide circle of artists, including Hofmann (1880-1966), who was successful artist and influential teacher. Burckhardt became known for his photographs of New York City pedestrians on the move. He photographed people surreptitiously on the subway or snuck into skyscrapers to shoot the streets from above. On his eighty-fifth birthday, Burckhardt committed suicide by drowning himself in a pond near his Maine home. Reportedly he left a note saying he wanted to be with Denby who also committed suicide over a decade earlier due to a prolonged illness.
ProvenanceHeald Foundation FundOn View
Not on view
Stephen DiRado
2010; printed 2017
