Unknown Berenice Abbott

Berenice Abbott was one of the most versatile photographic artists of the twentieth century and her work has been published and publicized since the beginning of her career in 1925. She is best known for her Paris portraits of the 1920s and her documentation of New York City in the 1930s but, like most great artists, Abbott's reputation has rested on a small portion of her life's work. For every time one of her most famous photographs has been published there are many others that could have served the same purpose but were not used because they are less well known. In Abbott's case there is an unusually large body of unknown work because during the most potentially creative time of her life, the circumstances of her existence were very complicated, largely due to lack of work and income, particularly between the years 1929 to 35 and 1940 to 1959. 'The Unknown Abbott' is a very ambitious project that will present hundreds of outstanding Abbott images for the first time.