City Life Org – The International Center of Photography Presents Eugène Atget: The Making of a Reputation

Eugène Atget, Hôtel du Marquis de Lagrange, 4 et 6 Rue de Braque, 1901 International Center of Photography, Gift of Caryl and Israel Englander, 2008 (2008.11.20)

The International Center of Photography | 84 Ludlow Street, New York

On View January 29, 2026–May 4, 2026 | Public Opening January 29, 5–8PM

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is proud to current Eugène Atget: The Making of a Reputation, an exhibition that examines how Eugène Atget (1857–1927) got here to be considered one of many forefathers of contemporary images by means of the well timed and tireless advocacy of Berenice Abbott. Featuring historic prints from ICP’s assortment alongside landmark publications and different printed ephemera, the exhibition reconsiders the position that Abbott performed in establishing Atget’s now-canonical standing, typically to the detriment of her personal exceptional profession as a photographer. Though Atget didn’t dwell to see it, Abbott grew to become the perfect steward, proving that each photographer wants a champion.

Over the final three a long time of his life, Atget undertook an intensive documentation of Paris and its surrounding districts, assembling an enormous archive of a time and place beneath acute strain from the forces of twentieth century modernization. Major monuments and humble buildings; storefronts, staircases, ironwork and road merchants; parks, timber and the undefined edges of town—all had been among the many litany of topics he photographed, each preserving and transfiguring their inherent formal and historic qualities.

In 1923, Bernice Abbott, then a younger sculptor, was launched to the artist Man Ray and have become his studio assistant. She quickly took to images and met Atget—whose studio was on the identical road as Man Ray’s—in 1926. The following 12 months, she made three portraits of Atget, however he died shortly earlier than she may present them to him. Though a portion of Atget’s prints had been offered to town archives of Paris, Abbott managed to amass what remained after which, with little prospect of monetary achieve, instantly started selling his work, satisfied it was a significant inventive achievement. Decades later, in 1968, her position as Atget’s champion would come to its pure shut, because the 1,415 glass negatives and round 8,000 classic prints in her assortment had been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, which took up the duty of advocating for Atget and his work.

Curated by David Campany, Creative Director at ICP, Eugène Atget: The Making of a Reputation focuses on the years between the publication of Atget’s photos (uncredited) within the journal La Révolution Surréaliste in 1926 and the looks 4 years later of ATGET: Photographe de Paris, the primary e book of his work, overseen by Abbott. It presents three associated expressions of Atget’s work: the magazines that printed it, the prints (drawn primarily from ICP’s assortment) and the photographs chosen for the e book. Each supplies distinct insights into how the that means and significance of his pictures was fashioned, claimed and positioned.

“Every photographer needs a champion,” mentioned Campany. “Eugène Atget had Berenice Abbott and without her, his work would have been all but lost.”

About Eugène Atget

Eugène Atget (1857-1927) was a French photographer greatest recognized for his pictures of Paris and its environs. He provided research for painters, architects and stage designers, whereas additionally making formally complicated footage. Atget’s topics included all the pieces from grand buildings to typical road scenes, storefronts and employees. His pictures, typically taken within the early hours, are notable for his or her diffuse mild and large views that give a way of enigma and thriller. They additionally doc Paris and its fast modifications; lots of the areas Atget photographed had been quickly to be razed as a part of widespread modernization tasks.

Atget drew the admiration of a wide range of artists, most notably Man Ray who even used considered one of Atget’s pictures on the quilt of the journal La Révolution Surréaliste. The photographer Berenice Abbott preserved lots of Atget’s prints and negatives. She exhibited his work, wrote about it and for many years championed Atget as a forerunner of contemporary images.

Exhibition Support

Exhibition help is generously supplied by ICP Collections Committee members: Jane Corkin, Constance Jaeggi, George Krupp, Monika Parekh, Douglas Pugh, Elizabeth Walton, Simon Zafrany and Alice Sachs Zimet.

Exhibitions at ICP are supported, partially, by Caryl Englander, Almudena Legorreta, ICP Board of Trustees, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Fund and with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the help of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature

About The International Center of Photography

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s main establishment devoted to images and visible tradition. Cornell Capa based ICP in 1974 to champion “concerned photography”—socially and politically minded photos that may educate and alter the world. Through exhibitions, education schemes, neighborhood outreach, and public packages, ICP presents an open discussion board for dialogue concerning the energy of the picture. Since its inception, ICP has introduced greater than 700 exhibitions, supplied 1000’s of courses, and hosted all kinds of public packages. ICP launched its new built-in middle at 84 Ludlow Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in January 2020. ICP pays respect to the unique stewards of this land, the Lenape individuals, and different Indigenous communities. Visit icp.org to study extra concerning the museum and its packages

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