:Fifteen rarely seen photographs of the city's built environment,
taken by a little-known but important and pioneering photographer
of the 1930s, are on view at the Museum of the City of New York
through June 13. "Sherril Schell: Unknown Modernist" explores the
work of this member of New York's avant-garde and sheds light on
his singularity among the photographers of his day.
The exhibition is being curated by Thomas H. Mellons, the museums
curator of special exhibitions.
Schell (1877-1964) saw beyond the documentary function of
photography and used unconventional perspectives to create
striking compositions.
He often employed strong diagonal elements that served to
emphasize the abstract qualities of the city's built environment.
Contrasts of light and dark, actuality and reflection, sharp
focus and blurriness conveyed his view of the city as a
collection of images that could be arranged and manipulated to
express his creative intent.
Schell's work was published in The New York Times and
championed by Henry McBride, a leading art critic and proponent
of modern art. Lincoln Kirstein, who founded the Harvard Society
for Contemporary Art (which predated the creation of the Museum
of Modern Art) also recognized Schell's genius.
Sherril Schell, "Entrance to El, Sixth Avenue," circa 1930.
gelatin-silver print. Collection of the Museum of the City of
New York.
Yet despite success and critical acclaim, Schell is largely
overlooked today. Little is known about his life. Most likely born
in the United States, he lived and worked in London in the 1930s
where he concentrated on producing photographic portraits of
well-known people, including the poet Rupert Brooke.
A writer as well as a photographer, he contributed articles to
journals such as The Bookman and International
Studio, and often illustrated them with his own photographs.
One of Schell's articles appeared in Arts and Decoration;
focusing on the then-esoteric fad of incense burning, the article
featured his photographs of the devices. Julien Levy, among the
most influential art dealers of his time, included Schell in a
1932 group show titled "Photographs of New York by New York
Photographers," alongside photographers who ultimately achieved
lasting fame: Berenice Abbott, Walker Evans, Ralph Steiner and
Margaret Bourke-White. But by the 1950s, Schell had long vanished
from the New York art scene and was living in Hollywood, Calif.,
where he died in 1964.
The Museum of the City of New York is at 1220 Fifth Avenue. For
information, 212-534-1672 or www.mcny.org.
2007
2006
2005
20032
2003
2002
2001
2000
