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01. Gertrude Käsebier, Untitled, ​c. 1910. A woman in a white shirt and long black skirt standing in front of a door, seeming to draw against a wooden easel.

01. Gertrude Käsebier, Untitled, c. 1910

02. Gertrude Käsebier, Adoration, ​1897. A seated woman in profile holds a small child upright on her lap.

02. Gertrude Käsebier, Adoration, 1897

03. Gertrude Käsebier, Happy Days, 1903. Five children playing outdoors amid tall grass and flowers. One child holds a cat.

03. Gertrude Käsebier, Happy Days, 1903

04. Gertrude Käsebier, Blossom Day, ​1904. A woman in a long white dress stands beneath a tree holding a baby to her chest.

04. Gertrude Käsebier, Blossom Day, 1904

05. Dorothy & Reta Morter, Autumn Defying Winter - Self-Portrait, c. 1918. A woman stands outdoors in speckled light, looking up and to the left of the frame.

05. Dorothy & Reta Morter, Autumn Defying Winter - Self-Portrait, c. 1918

06. Mesdames Morter, Love Praying - Self-Portrait, ​1923. A woman stands in a dimly lit room in a long draping, dress with one hand on her hip, looking down.

06. Mesdames Morter, Love Praying - Self-Portrait, 1923

07. Dorothy & Reta Morter, Destiny - Self-Portrait, ​c. 1918. A woman stands in the left of the frame by a river in a dress and cloak, looking to the left.

07. Dorothy & Reta Morter, Destiny - Self-Portrait, c. 1918

08. Mesdames Morter, Dearheart - Self-Portrait, ​1923. Upper body portrait of a woman clutching her chest with both hands, looking to the left of the frame.

08. Mesdames Morter, Dearheart - Self-Portrait, 1923

09. Doris Ulmann, Untitled (Basket weaver), ​1928–1934. Seated woman weaving a basket in her lap.

09. Doris Ulmann, Untitled (Basket weaver), 1928–1934

10. Doris Ulmann, Untitled (Farmer holding oxen yoke), 1928–1934. Older bearded man in a hat standing against a wooden wall and suspenders holding a wooden rod with two handles.

10. Doris Ulmann, Untitled (Farmer holding oxen yoke), 1928–1934

11. Doris Ulmann, Untitled (Vegetable seller), 1928–1934. Woman in a hat and checkered skirt stands holding vegetables and looking to the left of the frame.

11. Doris Ulmann, Untitled (Vegetable seller), 1928–1934

12. Doris Ulmann, New England (Apple picker), 1928–1934. Older bearded man in a hat and overalls stands amongst the branches of an apple tree.

12. Doris Ulmann, New England (Apple picker), 1928–1934

13. Antoinette B. Hervey, In the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, ​c. 1927. Tall & thin view of marble stairs and columns in a church.

13. Antoinette B. Hervey, In the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, c. 1927

14. Antoinette B. Hervey, Our Lady of Chartrés, France, c. 1932. Interior view of a cathedral with columns, archways, and stained glass windows.

14. Antoinette B. Hervey, Our Lady of Chartrés, France, c. 1932

15. Antoinette B. Hervey, Beachcombing, Indian Lake, c. 1927. Young boy walking on a beach, holding a net. Photographed from behind. Large piece of driftwood divides the frame horizontally.

15. Antoinette B. Hervey, Beachcombing, Indian Lake, c. 1927

16. Antoinette B. Hervey, On the Stairway, Walter B. Hervey, Jr., c. 1925. Nude young boy walking down a staircase towards a window, lit from the right.

16. Antoinette B. Hervey, On the Stairway, Walter B. Hervey, Jr., c. 1925

17. Margaret Bourke-White, Untitled, c. 1929. Looking through the arch of a bridge to a crane and beams rising out of the water.

17. Margaret Bourke-White, Untitled, c. 1929

18. Margaret Bourke-White, 'Frank W.' on the Cuyahoga, c. 1929. Steam boat marked "Frank W" floating on a river. A cloud of smoke rises above it.

18. Margaret Bourke-White, 'Frank W.' on the Cuyahoga, c. 1929

19. Margaret Bourke-White, Untitled, c. 1930. Men working atop a series of beams, photographed from below. A crane rises up along the right side of the frame.

19. Margaret Bourke-White, Untitled, c. 1930

20. Margaret Bourke-White, Locks, Sault St. Marie, c. 1929. A large ship photographed from the front on a canal.

20. Margaret Bourke-White, Locks, Sault St. Marie, c. 1929

21. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Meanwhile in Miami, 1938. Woman in a wide-brimmed hat, gloves, a print dress, and a pearl necklace smiles and leans against a small plane.

21. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Meanwhile in Miami, 1938

22. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Vivien Leigh, c. 1939. A woman seated at a vanity holds up a small mirror to the left of the frame to look at her reflection.

22. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Vivien Leigh, c. 1939

23. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Untitled, c. 1940. A woman in a swimsuit with both hands in her hair. Her face is tilted towards the upper right of the frame with eyes closed.

23. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Untitledc. 1940

24. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Untitled, c. 1939. Woman standing in a nightgown holding a small mirror above her face, one hand adjusting her hair.

24. Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Untitled, c. 1939

25. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945. Three seated men reading newspapers.

25. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945

26. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945. Four middle aged women sitting on a park bench, looking to the camera.

26. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945

27. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945. Three women in dark coats, hats, and gloves walk on the sidewalk.

27. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945

28. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945. A crowd of people, the closest on the right of the frame, standing on the sidewalk.

28. Jeanne Ebstel, Untitled, c. 1945

29. Charlotte Brooks, Untitled, n.d. Two figures dancing, silhouetted in front of a large curtained window that reads (backwards) "Dale Dance School"

29. Charlotte Brooks, Untitled, n.d.

30. Charlotte Brooks, Columbus Circle, 1943. Aerial view of the street and sidewalk; a fountain with statues on the right of the frame. A large Coca-Cola sign is on a building at the top left of the frame.

30. Charlotte Brooks, Columbus Circle, 1943

31. Charlotte Brooks, Untitled, 1944–1946. Abstract view looking up on a brick wall with streaks of light going from the upper left to the bottom right of the frame.

31. Charlotte Brooks, Untitled, 1944–1946

32. Charlotte Brooks, Cornelia Street, c. 1943. Street view from an elevated perspective; cars line both sides of the street.

32. Charlotte Brooks, Cornelia Street, c. 1943

33. Esther Bubley, View of Third Avenue El looking downtown from 53rd Street. The El goes as far downtown as the Battery, 1946. Elevated view of train tracks and three pedestrians walking on the sidewalk on the right of the frame.

33. Esther Bubley, View of Third Avenue El looking downtown from 53rd Street. The El goes as far downtown as the Battery, 1946

34. Esther Bubley, Brooklyn Bridge, 1946. Elevated view of cars on the Brooklyn Bridge; the city skyline is visible in the background. A lamppost is in the right foreground.

34. Esther Bubley, Brooklyn Bridge, 1946

35. Esther Bubley, On South Street at noon time, 1946. Man in the left foreground in profile eating; man in the right midground stands in an apron behind a hot dog cart.

35. Esther Bubley, On South Street at noon time, 1946

36. Esther Bubley, Weehawken, New Jersey. View looking east from 50th Street and East Boulevard showing New York Central piers, Hudson River and Midtown Manhattan skyline, 1946.

36. Esther Bubley, Weehawken, New Jersey. View looking east from 50th Street and East Boulevard showing New York Central piers, Hudson River and Midtown Manhattan skyline, 1946

37. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970. A man smiling on the sidewalk in front of a brick wall mural. He holds a book in one hand and a plastic cup in the other.

37. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970

38. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970. A man in sunglasses photographed from a low angle, dancing in a crowded dance hall.

38. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970

39. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970. A man stands in front of a turntable with eyes closed, seeming to mimic playing a saxophone with a white piece of fabric.

39. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970

40. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970. Three men pose together on a sidewalk, leaning towards the camera.

40. Mikki Ferrill, Untitled, c. 1970

41. Sabine Weiss, France, 1956. Silhouetted, robed figures on a mountaintop with a cross.

41. Sabine Weiss, France1956

42. Sabine Weiss, Young and old faces from the north of Portugal, c. 1950. A young girl holding flowers stands in the right of the frame, looking to the camera with a concerned expression. An older woman is seated on the left of the frame, also looking to the camera with one hand on her chin.

42. Sabine Weiss, Young and old faces from the north of Portugal, c. 1950

43. Sabine Weiss, La Messe, Portugal, 1954. A crowd of dark-cloaked figures in a hall; a young girl kneels with one cloaked woman in the center of the frame.

43. Sabine Weiss, La Messe, Portugal, 1954

44. Sabine Weiss, La guerre aux pied du "Sacre Coeur," Paris, c. 1950. Four young boys play war on a lawn, with to barricades made of stacked chairs.

44. Sabine Weiss, La guerre aux pied du "Sacre Coeur," Paris, c. 1950

45. Toni Frissell, Untitled, c. 1947. Two children holding hands and running on the beach. The frame is divided from lower left to upper right by the sea meeting the sand.

45. Toni Frissell, Untitled, c. 1947

46. Toni Frissell, The King Ranch, 1939–1944. A herd of cattle in front of a wooden fence photographed from above.

46. Toni Frissell, The King Ranch, 1939–1944

47. Toni Frissell, John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier on Their Wedding Day, Newport, Rhode Island, 1953. The couple pose with arms linked in the middle of the frame, a wooden fence and vast field in the background.

47. Toni Frissell, John F. Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier on Their Wedding Day, Newport, Rhode Island, 1953

48. Toni Frissell, The King Ranch, 1939–1944. A cow calf being lassoed by two ranchers in the foreground right. Two figures ride horses in the background left.

48. Toni Frissell, The King Ranch, 1939–1944

49. Janine Niépce, Untitled, c. 1960. A group of seated women with crossed arms. Anatomical pregnancy diagrams are on a table in the foreground.

49. Janine Niépce, Untitled, c. 1960

50. Janine Niépce, Untitled, c. 1960. A woman in the foreground left washes clothing in a tin bucket; children play behind her to the right. A river, canoe, and large buildings are in the background.

50. Janine Niépce, Untitled, c. 1960

51. Janine Niépce, Jeunes filles de Paris, c. 1960. A woman stands outdoors at an easel wearing a smock and smiling towards the left of the frame.

51. Janine Niépce, Jeunes filles de Parisc. 1960

52. Janine Niépce, La course, c. 1960. A group of children, blurred with motion, run from left to right across the frame in a wooded setting.

52. Janine Niépce, La coursec. 1960

Press Release

Keith de Lellis Gallery presents an exhibition of fourteen women photographers, represented by four photographs each, for this end-of-year exhibition. Spanning nearly a century, these photographs capture cityscapes, cultures and customs, fashion models, family life, and more.

 

All pioneers in their own right, the women featured in this show carved a place for themselves in a male-dominated field. Industrial photographer Margaret Bourke-White was the first female war correspondent and the first staff photographer for both Fortune and Life magazines. One of her many striking industrial photographs was featured on Life’s very first cover. Charlotte Brooks expressed feeling like “one of the guys” as the only long-term woman staff photographer for Look magazine.

 

Louise Dahl-Wolfe had an accomplished 22-year tenure with Harper’s Bazaar as a fashion photographer, contributing 86 cover photographs and hundreds of additional images for the magazine that came to be defined by her distinct vision.

 

Doris Ulmann and Antoinette B. Hervey were both students of the Clarence H. White School. Ulmann traveled extensively throughout Appalachia to create portraits that would preserve local traditions and folklore as modernization spread across the country. Ulmann’s subjects are both humble and proud as they are pictured farming, crafting, and peddling vegetables. While Ulmann’s focus was human, Hervey’s was architectural: a thorough study of the construction and completed form of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, “shooting at all times of night and day, in every season and from all conceivable vantage points” (Grace Glueck, New York Times).

 

Another noted American Pictorialist, Gertrude Käsebier created quiet scenes portraying motherhood and childhood, elevating both photography and “women’s work” to a fine art. London-based sisters Mesdames Morter practiced fine art in the form of self-portraiture, predating Cindy Sherman, staging dramatic scenes in which one member of the duo posed as a character such as “Destiny” or “Love”.

A mid-century French photojournalist, Janine Niépce traveled across her home country with an eye for human interest and cultural shifts, particularly the women’s liberation movement. French humanist photographer Sabine Weiss contributed to Vogue, Time, Life, Newsweek, and more; but her personal work focused on the everyday lives and emotions of the people around her. Three of these photographs were selected for Edward Steichen’s Family of Man exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1955.

 

African American photographer Mikki Ferrill documented Chicago’s soul-filled night life with her “Music Moves” series, her emotive subjects full of energy and movement. Toni Frissell was also focused on portraiture, her work ranging from magazine fashion and photo-essays, to wartime photojournalism, to children’s book illustrations. Her daughter wrote: “though diverse in subject, her photos all had the same theme: great beauty and style and an appreciation of the happier moments of life” (Sydney Frissell Stafford, Toni Frissell, Doubleday, 1994).

 

In total, this exhibition features Margaret Bourke-White, Charlotte Brooks, Esther Bubley, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Jeanne Ebstel, Mikki Ferrill, Toni Frissell, Antoinette B. Hervey, Gertrude Käsebier, Mesdames Morter (Dorothy Gladys Morter & Reta May Morter), Janine Niépce, Doris Ulmann, and Sabine Weiss.

 

4 x 14 will be on view at the Keith de Lellis Gallery through January 31, 2020.