When Bourke-White moved from Cleveland to a studio atop the sparkling new Chrysler Building, she announced her arrival with a card to her friends and clients. Her new address appeared inside the card and on its cover was this example of her art. Her portrait of the Art Deco masterpiece is futuristic and somehow self-celebratory, a prediction à la Jules Verne of the rocket trajectory of her ascending career.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Artwork Details
Use your arrow keys to navigate the tabs below, and your tab key to choose an item
Title:Chrysler Building, New York
Artist:Margaret Bourke-White (American, Bronx, New York 1904–1971 Darien, Connecticut)
Date:1930–31
Medium:Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:13.6 x 9.5 cm (5 3/8 x 3 3/4 in.)
Classification:Photographs
Credit Line:Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987
Object Number:1987.1100.338
Inscription: Printed on mount, inner panel: "MARGARET BOURKE-WHITE // SIXTY-FIRST FLOOR // CHRYSLER BUILDING // NEW YORK CITY // AFTER NOVEMBER TWENTIETH";
[Daniel Wolf, New York]; John C. Waddell, New York (May 20, 1980)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
Victoria and Albert Museum. "Art Deco 1910-1939," March 27, 2003–July 28, 2003.
Royal Ontario Museum. "Art Deco 1910-1939," September 15, 2003–January 4, 2004.
Legion of Honor, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "Art Deco 1910-1939," March 13, 2004–July 5, 2004.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "Art Deco 1910-1939," September 19, 2004–January 9, 2005.
Amon Carter Museum of American Art. "American Modern: Documentary Photography by Abbott, Evans and Bourke-White," October 2, 2010–January 2, 2011.
May, Jessica L., Sharon Corwin, and Terri Weissman. American Modern: Documentary Photography by Abbott, Evans, and Bourke-White. Berkeley: Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 2010. p. 139, pl. 57.
Margaret Bourke-White (American, Bronx, New York 1904–1971 Darien, Connecticut)
ca. 1927
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 75,000 works spanning the history of photography from its invention in the 1830s to the present.