Image

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James Abbe

photograph, 1919

Description

Maker

James Abbe, 1883-1973, American

Title

photograph

Year

1919

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions

23.6 x 18.7 cm (9 5/16 x 7 3/8 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Signed LR in red crayon:Abbe

Type

Credit

Mary B. Jackson Fund

Object Number

76.060

Exhibition History

Facing Artists

February 27 - July 31, 2009

James Abbe photographed the leading luminaries of theater and film in the 1920s and ’30s, helping to launch the phenomenon of media-promoted celebrity. This
photograph of the actor John Barrymore (American, 1882–1942) was taken in New York during the run of The Jest. Barrymore challenged Abbe to photograph him
on the play’s set, rather than in a studio, a practice that was virtually unheard of at the time. Abbe did so, and his pictures of actors on theater and film sets thereafter
became a personal trademark.

Use

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