Accession Number
2000/2.146

Title
Rockefeller Center—Construction of the AP Building

Artist(s)
Paul J. Woolf

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1937

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
9 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in (24.13 cm x 16.51 cm);22 1/8 in x 18 1/16 in (56.2 cm x 45.88 cm);952 3/4 in x 6 3/4 in (2419.99 cm x 17.15 cm);9 13/16 in x 7 1/8 in (24.92 cm x 18.1 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of The Morris and Beverly Baker Foundation, in memory of Morris D. Baker, a graduate of The University of Michigan School of Architecture, 1952

Label copy
Following in the tradition of Lewis Hine’s documentation of the construction of the Empire State Building, Woolf photographed Rockefeller Center under construction. Comprising fourteen structures, Rockefeller Center required the demolition of more than 225 brownstones that had occupied that portion of mid-town. Margaret Bourke-White also photographed at Rockefeller Center as it was being built.
Carole McNamara, Assistant Director for Collections & Exhibitions
on the occasion of the exhibition New York Observed: The Mythology of the City
(July 13 – September 22, 2003)

Subject matter
Paul J. Woolf documented the construction of the Rockefeller Center's Associated Press Building, following in the tradition of photographer Lewis Hine. This daytime photograph of the site illustrates the use of new steel frame construction methods and equipment, including the crane. The image focuses on the geometric lines created during construction.

Physical Description
This is a photograph of the mid-late 1930s construction of the Rockefeller Center AP Building in Manhattan.

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
Figures
architecture genres
buildings
construction equipment
construction sites
construction workers
crane
cranes (equipment)
labor
men (male humans)
steel frame construction