Monson Arts Gallery

I’m not a nice girl. I’m a photographer. — Berenice Abbott

The above statement describes, in a line, one of the most creative, prolific and single-minded artists in art history. This exhibition of over thirty photographs from Marlborough’s collection includes many of the artist’s most iconic images of Greenwich Village, along with a selection of rare pictures never before published.

The exhibition runs from July 5th through September 15th, 2024, with the opening reception on July 12th from noon to 7 PM at the Monson Arts Gallery, 8 Greenville Road in Monson, Maine. Afternoon refreshments will be served at noon. Berenice Abbott’s friend and collaborator, Todd Watts, will give a talk at 1pm, hors d’oeuvres at 5pm.

At the age of nineteen, having left her native Springfield, Ohio, Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) arrived in New York City in 1918. She soon found herself among the literary and artistic avant-garde. Intending to pursue journalism and sculpture, it was not until her extended sojourn in Paris, France from 1921 through 1929 that she was introduced to photography, training in the workshop of Man Ray. In Paris, Abbott encountered and photographed many of the modernist figures she had known during her initial stay in Greenwich Village. 

To be ‘done’ by Man Ray and Berenice Abbott meant you were rated as somebody.

— Sylvia Beach, founder of Shakespeare and Company, Paris.

Upon her return to New York in 1929, Abbott was struck by the drastic change in architecture and the rapid modernization of the city. She set up a portrait studio, photographing prominent American businessmen for Fortune magazine, as well as the distinguished New Yorkers who ran in her social circle, hoping that the profits would allow her to follow her real passion of documenting the ever-shifting urban landscape. She soon began photographing Greenwich Village. In 1935, Abbott became a member of the Federal Arts Project of the Works Progress Administration, which helped fund her work. In 1939, she published, Changing New York, featuring ninety-seven photographs she made throughout the five boroughs of New York City in the 1930’s and 40’s.

Berenice Abbott moved from Greenwich Village to Blanchard, Maine in the 1960’s, then to Monson, Maine in 1981. She lived in Monson until her death in 1991.

Opening Reception July 12th, 2024

12-2pm – Light lunch refreshments

1pm – Talk by friend and colleague Todd Watts

5:00pm – 7:00pm – Refreshments sponsored by the Monson General Store

Summer hours:

Monday – Saturday  10am – 5pm

Sunday 12pm -5pm

Enter through the Gallery Store

Or By Appointment: Contact gallery@monsonarts.org or 207-997-2070 to schedule a visit.

The Monson Arts Gallery is located at 8 Greenville Rd, Monson ME