Untitled (tenement fronts)

Artist Bruce Davidson (American, born 1933)

Date1966

Mediumgelatin silver print

Dimensions51 x 38.2 cm (20 1/16 x 15 1/16 in.)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineMuseum Purchase through a gift from Mrs. Joseph Goodhue

Terms

Object number1982.13

Label TextBeginning in the nineteenth century, low-rise urban houses were transformed into multi-family dwellings as more people crowded American cities. Immigrants who arrived to the United States in search of opportunity filled these buildings—known as tenements—to capacity. Most residents lived in poverty and were subject to substandard living conditions. Photographer Jacob Riis was among the first to document the miserable settings of New York City’s tenements as early as the 1880s. Working over a half century later, Bruce Davidson focused his camera on the daily lives of New Yorkers in all their variety. Both photographers presented a mosaic of faces set against the grim masonry of an industrial landscape transforming into a modern financial capital.ProvenancePurchase from Druce Davidson, through Magnum Photos, Inc., 251 Park Avenue South, New York, NY. Purchased through gift of Mrs. Joseph Goodhue

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