The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 28, 2023

Group in Front of Fence, Pitt Street, Lower East Side, NY

1938, printed later

Walter Rosenblum

(American, 1919–2006)

American, 20th century

Gelatin silver print, toned

Image: 17.9 x 23.1 cm (7 1/16 x 9 1/8 in.); Paper: 19.5 x 25.1 cm (7 11/16 x 9 7/8 in.)

Gift of the Rosenblum Family 2017.83

© Walter Rosenblum

Location

not on view

Description

Taken at the height of the Depression when he was 19, this image shows a world Rosenblum knew intimately. One of five children of immigrant parents, he grew up in a three-room cold-water flat in one of the tenement buildings that filled New York’s Lower East Side. Because apartments were crowded, much of life was lived on the street, providing ample material for his camera.

Inscriptions

Inscription

Written in black ink on verso: “Group in Front of Fence/Pitt St. N.Y. 1938” Written in black ink on verso: “Walter Rosenblum (signed)” Written in pencil on verso: “ACMS WR0032.26”

Citations
Tannenbaum, Barbara. “A New York Minute: Take a look at street photography between 1920 and 1950.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 61, no. 2 (Spring 2021): 24-26. Reproduced: P. 25.
Exhibition history

From Riches to Rags: American Photography in the Depression. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 13-December 31, 2017).

A New York Minute: Street Photography, 1920-1950. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 11-November 7, 2021).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2017.83