An Afternoon in Astoria by Rudolph Burckhardt
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An afternoon in Astoria By Rudolph Burckhardt Author Burckhardt, Rudy Date 2002 Publisher The Museum of Modern Art: Distributed by D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers ISBN 0870704362 Exhibition URL www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/152 The Museum of Modern Art's exhibition history—from our founding in 1929 to the present—is available online. It includes exhibition catalogues, primary documents, installation views, and an index of participating artists. MoMA © 2017 The Museum of Modern Art ERNOON IN ASTORIA BY RUDOLPH BURCKHARDT v—-" . ?*! . T^'p'l'i^iflT 'f rff--r 1 rap . AN AFTERNOON IN ASTORIA SOCONY . \CU' M I^Heauto BATTERIES I TIRES ACCESSORIES«r LUBRICATIONp M* AN AFTERNOON IN ASTORIA BY RUDOLPH BURCKHARDT TheMuseum of ModernArt, NewYork Distributedby D.A.P./DistributedArt Publishers, New York Avc^1 Kn>j\ hoo THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED ON THE OCCASIONOF THE OPENING OF MOMA QNS, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART'S FACILITY IN QUEENS, NEW YORK Thepublication is supportedby a generousgrant from Adam Bartos Producedby the Departmentof Publications,The Museum of ModernArt,New York Editedby DavidFrankel Designedby Hsien-YIinngrid Chou Productionby ChrisZichello Directdigit al-capturescans by KellyBenjamin,Kimberly Marshall Pancoastand , John Wronn Printedand bound by TrifolioS.R.L.V,erona Typeset in FBInterstate Printedon 170 gsm Xenon Scheufelen Copyright© 2002The Museum of ModernArt, NewYork. All rightsreserved Photographs© 2002 The Estate of RudolphBurckhardt Thepoem on p.33 is © 2002The Estate of EdwinDenby Libraryof CongressControl Number:2002103314 ISBN:0-87070-436-2 Publishedby TheMuseum of ModernArt 11West 53 Street, New York, New York 10019 Distributedin the UnitedStates and Canada by D.A.P./DistributAedrt Publishers,New York Distributedoutside the UnitedStates and Canada by Thames& HudsonLtd, London Cover:Rudy BurckhardtUnt. itled.F romAn Afternoon in Astoria.1940 Frontispiece:Rudy BurckhardtUnt. itled.F romAn Afternoon in Astoria.1940 Printedin Italy FOREWORD In June2002, The Museum of ModernArt opensMoMA QNS, a state-of-the-artfacility for the care, Glenn D. Lowry study,and display of the Museum'sgreat collection. This and the P.S.1 ContemporaryArt Center, Director, The Museum of Modern Art our affiliate,give us an importantpresence in Queens.To celebrate the event,the Museumhas reachedout to manyorganizations and communitiesin the borough-andof courseto artists, whohave been invited to createa varietyof interventionsrelated to the newfacility. RudyBurckhardt (1914-99) needed no invitationto discoverQueens. Not long after he arrivedin NewYork from his nativeSwitzerland in 1935,he foundhis wayacross the EastRiver to a placethat perfectlysuited the quiet,affectionate sensibility of his earlyexperimental films and photographs.Among the gemsof Burckhardt'swork in Queensis hisexquisite album An Afternoon in Astoria,of 1940.We have been eager to publishthe albumever since purchasing it fromthe artist, in 1993,after the Museum'sretrospective of Burckhardt'sfilms in 1987.The opening of MoMAQNS providesthe idealoccasion for this publication,which is designedin the sameformat and roughly the samesize as the originalspiral-bound album. Threepeople have played instrumental roles in realizingthis project,and I thank them enthusiastically:Yvonne Jacquette, Rudy Burckhardt's widow and thoughtfulguardian of his artistic legacy;Adam Bartos, whose generous contribution has madethe publicationpossible; and MaryLea Bandy, the Museum'sDeputy Director for CuratorialAffairs, who hasdone a mas terful job of nurturingartists' interventionsat MoMAQNS. I am particularlygrateful to SarahHermanson Meister, Associate Curator, Research and Collections,in the Departmentof Photographyfor the painstakingcare with which she has carried out the project,and for her thoughtfulcommentary on the albumand its place in Burckhardt'swork. 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Tolearn and write about Rudy Burckhardt has been an exceptionalexperience. Burckhardt engen deredsuch admiration and warm feelings among all who hadthe pleasureof knowinghim that Sarah Hermanson Meister everyperson I contactedseemed genuinely delighted to talk with me-if only for the opportu nity to remembertheir relationshipwith him.Of the manypeople I spokewith I am particularly indebtedto five. ChristopherSweet facilitated the Museum'spurchase of Burckhardt'sphoto graphs-includingAn Afternoonin Astoria-'m1993. Ron Padgett was generous with his time and insight, providingme with copiesof his own researchand (as yet unpublished)writing on Burckhardt.Edith Schloss kindly allowed me to readher recollectionsof Burckhardt,his albums, and his collaborationswith JosephCornell. Robert Storr, SeniorCurator in the Museum's Departmentof Paintingand Sculpture, provided candid and eloguent commentary on Burckhardt andhis work. Yvonne Jacguette's unfailing support of this projectdeserves special note, from her willingnessto openthe archivesof Burckhardt'sestate to her warmand helpful responses to my manyguestions. I am sincerelyappreciative of the contributionsof severalpeople within the Museumwith out whomthis projectwould not havebeen possible. David Frankel's thoughtful editing, Chris Zichello'ssensitive and sensible production, and Hsien-Yin Ingrid Chou's perfectly pitched design haveall combinedto highlightthe understatedbeauty of Burckhardt'swork. I thank Harper Montgomeryfor her friendshipand counsel, Kristine Haugaard Nielsen for her indispensableand imaginativeresearch, and CharlesSilver for arrangingnumerous screenings of Burckhardt's films. Amy McLaughlin'senergy and organizationalskills have been crucial throughoutthe project.Deputy Director for CuratorialAffairs Mary Lea Bandy supplied immediate and unwavering enthusiasmfor Burckhardt'saccomplishments in photographyand film, makingno obstacle insurmountable.The supportand input of PeterGalassi, Chief Curator in the Departmentof Photography,were invaluable. ' ' ' ' - . : •' - V.-.' - . : . - - s : . - « ; . ' : : : . , - an afternoon IN ASTORIA BY RUOOLPH BORCKHARDT #58';; THUR.MO N.FE B22 26 uticeMv* K <«{DMHU»»4 glCHAMCftCEJff UTTLEOZfl VMYBRK imim m WTQtD.g*. * r TCP V ' * THOUSHALT;MARRIED AND NOTKILL IN LOVE . 11 Mobilgas f- : - socony . u:u' InM'WX BATTERIES i TIRES ACCESSORIES lubrication batteries Recharged flats ENTED FIXED 2™ CERTIFIEDM BATT€RI€5 jUichani)uL<r((tubd ALCOHOL 2B- — "v. V; : Kh shiP $&.< p ?. --/t" , j 1 T I XACO N BNfT ;, :: . ' ;:• RUDY BURCKHARDT'SPLAIN POETRY Sarah Hermanson Meister An Afternoonin Astoria,the wordsthat RudolphBurckhardt-"Rudy" became definitive much later-printedneatly in capitalletters on the coverof this album,declare his modestaspirations: his subjectwas not the wholeof his recentlyadopted hometown of NewYork City, nor the expan sive boroughof Queens,but an unpretentiousneighborhood-and only for an afternoon.Now, more than sixty years after its creation,Burckhardt's quiet statementis virtually unknown outsidea smallcircle of his friendsand admirers.This publication is intendedto capturethe unassumingpresentation of his original album,making his attentive,clear-eyed, often droll observationsand delicate sequencing available for the first time to a broaderpublic. ForBurckhardt, Queens was a placeto escapethe incessantbustle of Manhattan-agood placefor his photographsand films. He later remarked,"I find it's a greatplace to walkbecause youget awayfrom everything,and there's all kindsof thingsto lookat. It's veryquiet and spread 1 out." The borough'sposition just outsidethe center resonatedwith Burckhardt'ssense of RudyBurckhardt in Haiti, 1937-38. himselfas a foreignerin NewYork. Wherever he worked,his photographsand films reflect his Photographerunknown. Collection the Estateof RudyBurckhardt inclinationto takethings as they came, without judgment or sentimentality.Although Burckhardt had photographedin the metropolitancenters of Londonand Parisas a youngman, he was "overwhelmedby [the] grandeurand ceaseless energy" of NewYork when he arrivedhere from his nativeSwitzerland in 1935.He would recall, "The tremendous difference in scalebetween the soaringbuildings and the peoplemoving against them in the streetastonished me, and it took a 2 coupleof yearsbefore I felt readyto photograph."Burckhardt'sfirst photographsin Manhattan are shydownward glances at sidewalks,hydrants, and signs, and at people,also seen frequently from the waistdown, absorbed in their own routines.A few yearslater he facedthe neighbor hoodof Astoriawith straightforwardconfidence and care. 29 RudyBurckhardtEdwin . Denby on 21stS treetNew, York.1937. 3/. Gelatinsilver print, 10 x 7%" (27.3x 20.1cm).Collect ionthe Estateof RudyBurckhardt Burckhardtwas born into an aristocratic,intellectually distinguished family in, as he described 3 it, "properand clean" Basel in 1914.Hisgreat-great-uncle was Jacob Burckhardtthe , renowned historianof the Renaissance;his grandfatherwas a generaland judge;and his father was a prominentindustrialist who died when Rudolphwas fourteen.Burckhardt escaped from the weightof the past andthe proprietyof Europewith the helpof an inheritancefrom his father that he cameinto at the ageof twenty-one.Leaving for NewYork City, he movedinto a loft at 145 West21st Street with the poetand dance critic EdwinDenby, whom he hadmet in Baselthe pre viousyear, and who was to becomehis closest life-long friend. In NewYork, Burckhardt immersed himselfin a culturallysophisticated bohemian life-style, and in a circleof friendsencompassing artists,actors, poets, painters, musicians, filmmakers, and writers, including the youngWillem de Kooning,a