Object number2001.28
We New Yorkers
Date1942
Artist
Josef Breitenbach
(American, b. Germany, 1896-1984)
CultureGerman, American
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsSheet: 13 7/8 x 10 5/8 in. (35.2 x 27 cm)
Matted: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Matted: 20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund
On View
Not on viewPeriod20th c
Classification(s)
Inscribedinscribed (verso): (artist’s stamp and estate stamp)
BibliographyModern Metropolis, (Poughkeepsie: FLLAC, 2002), p. 5, repr. Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryPoughkeepsie, NY, FLLAC, Vassar College, "Modern Metropolis," April 5 - June 16, 2002. (see below)Label TextIn the years following World War I, photographer Josef Breitenbach was popular in Germany for his portrait photography. During the Second World War, Breitenbach’s public status, Jewish identity, and previous political contributions to the Social Democratic Party made him a prominent target in Nazi Germany. This resulted in him ultimately fleeing to New York in the summer of 1941. Made soon after his arrival in New York, We New Yorkers is a photograph of the artist’s original collage. It depicts the dense network of the human nervous system layered on top of a skyscraper silhouette. Breitenbach’s surrealist scene represents our biological interconnectedness and how finding our place can include connecting via our senses. Breitenbach’s friend, Oskar Maria Graf, reflected on his arrival in the United States, saying: “In a geographical sense, this was the end of his journey; psychologically, however, it continued until National Socialism had been overthrown.”
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
To help improve this record, please email
loebcollections@vassar.edu
