[Thomas Cusack Company Building, New York]
Although the Danish-born architect Knud Lonberg-Holm is relatively unknown as a photographer, his revolutionary images of American cities in the mid-1920s were profoundly influential to the generation of avant-garde photographers active between the two World Wars. This extraordinary night view of the Thomas Cusack Company Building on New York's Madison Square was reproduced in a section of Erich Mendelsohn's landmark book Amerika entitled "World Center—Money Center." Built in 1919 by the young modernist architect Ely Jacques Kahn for a firm specializing in outdoor advertising, the six story building was designed with a façade that allowed for bands of signage beneath the windows and was surmounted by a massive signboard bearing the Cusack Company name. In Lonberg-Holm's futuristic view, floodlights transform the entire structure into a glowing billboard framed by the soft white orb of a streetlight and a diagonal stream of headlights. The effect is otherworldly, recalling the fantastical set designs for Fritz Lang's film Metropolis (1929) and presenting the new American city as an ethereal utopia founded in commerce and existing entirely of light and energy.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Thomas Cusack Company Building, New York]
- Artist: Knud Lonberg-Holm (American (born Denmark), 1895–1972)
- Date: 1923
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.8 cm (4 1/16 x 3 1/16 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke Gift, 2000
- Object Number: 2000.178
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Knud Lonberg-Holm
ca. 1924
Knud Lonberg-Holm
1924
Knud Lonberg-Holm
1924
Knud Lonberg-Holm
ca. 1924
Knud Lonberg-Holm
1924
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
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.