Accession Number1990/2.51
TitleBrick Building on Corner of James Slip and Water Street, New York City
Artist(s)Walker EvansArtist NationalityAmerican (North American)Object Creation Date1933-1934Medium & Supportgelatin silver print on paperDimensions 8 in x 10 in (20.32 cm x 25.4 cm);18 1/8 in x 22 1/8 in (46.04 cm x 56.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Lunn, Jr., in Honor of the Centennial of The Michigan DailyLabel copyThe choreographer Lincoln Kirstein became a friend of Walker Evans shortly after Evans’s return to New York from Paris in 1927. He wrote of Evans’s work: “Evans’s style is based on moral virtues of patience, surgical accuracy and self-effacement. In order to force details into their firmest relief, he could only work in brilliant sunlight, and the sun had to be on the correct side of the streets. Often many trips to the same house were necessary to avoid shadows cast by trees or other houses; only the spring and fall were favorable seasons.”
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 matterIn this photograph of Water Street in Manhattan, Evans frames an empty street corner, devoid of pedestrians and traffic. Strong raking sunlight casts down from the right side of the image, bringing into focus the textures of a building's brick façade and the pavement. The sky to the right is a blindingly bright white light.
Physical DescriptionThis photograph shows the façade of a brick building on a street corner.
Primary Object ClassificationPhotographCollection AreaPhotographyRightsIf 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
Cityscapes
New York City
buildings
buildings (structures)
city
cityscapes (representations)
curbs
fire hydrants
lamp
modern and contemporary art
portfolios
street lighting units
streets