The photograph depicts the recently completed interior of the Chase National Bank, designed by Reinhard and Hoffmeister. The softly glowing lights and flamelike reflections on the cloverleaf columsn recall the devotional tapers burning inside cathedrals. Whether the photographer recognized the irony of the sacred reference in a bank, or only recorded it, is not known.
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Artwork Details
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Title:45 Rockefeller Plaza
Artist:Fay Sturtevant Lincoln (American, 1894–1975)
Date:1938
Medium:Gelatin silver print
Dimensions:24.0 x 19.0 cm (9 7/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
Classification:Photographs
Credit Line:Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor Company and John C. Waddell, 1987
Object Number:1987.1100.447
Inscription: Signed on 2nd mount, recto LR [below print]: "F.S. Lincoln [underlined]"; stamped on 2nd mount, verso UC: "F.S. LINCOLN [underlined] // Photographer // 114 EAST 32nd STREET // NEW YORK CITY // [line] // THIS PRINT IS SOLD FOR REFERENCE ONLY. // REPRODUCTION IS NOT ALLOWED IN ANY FORM // WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM F.S. LINCOLN"; stamped on 2nd mount, verso UC: "286P7"; inscribed on 2nd mount, verso UC: "Dupl // 45 Rockefeller Plaza."; stamped on 2nd mount, verso C: "THE NEW YORK // PUBLIC LIBRARY // ASTOR, LENOX // TILDEN FOUNDATION"; stamped over previous stamp on 2nd mount, verso C [sideways]: "DISCARD"
New York Public Library (sold, Swann, October 18, 1979, Lot #377); John C. Waddell, New York.
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.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "New York New York," May 7–September 15, 2002.
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.
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