Evelyn Hofer (American, born Germany, 1922; active New York; died Mexico, 2009) was a highly innovative photographer whose prolific career spanned five decades. Despite her extraordinary output, she was underrecognized during her lifetime and was notably referred to by New York Times art critic Hilton Kramer as “the most famous unknown photographer in America.” She made her greatest impact through a series of photobooks, published throughout the 1960s, devoted to European and American cities, including Florence, London, New York, Washington, DC, and Dublin, and a book focused on the country of Spain. Comprising more than one hundred vintage prints in both black and white and color, Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City, the artist’s first major museum exhibition in the United States in over fifty years, is organized around those publications. The featured photographs combine landscapes and architectural views with portraiture and convey the unique character and personality of these urban capitals during a period of intense structural, social, and economic transformations after World War II.
Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City
March 24 – August 13, 2023
Evelyn Hofer (American, born Germany, 1922; active New York; died Mexico, 2009), Gravediggers, Dublin, 1966, gelatin silver print, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser in honor of Brett Abbott, 2016.426. © Estate of Evelyn Hofer.
Evelyn Hofer
American, born Germany, 1922; active New York; died Mexico, 2009
Self-Portrait, New York, 1960
Estate of Evelyn Hofer
I don’t like to spy on people. I want them to know I’m taking their picture and want them to collaborate with me. If they felt I was trying to get something out of them which they wouldn’t like, it would be impossible. So I respect them and I want them to respect what we are doing together.
—Evelyn Hofer
Badia di Fiesole, Florence, 1958
Gelatin silver print
Estate of Evelyn Hofer
Lorry Drivers, London, 1962
Gelatin silver print
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2020.7.55
Waitress, Garrick Club, London, 1962
Gelatin silver print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser in honor of Brett Abbott, 2016.458
In this portrait made at an exclusive men’s club, the server, older, looks directly into the camera; her expression appears more individualized and accessible to the viewer, even as her demeanor remains tethered to her social station. The waitress’s slight smile might also suggest that the photographer and her subject shared a certain understanding of the place they occupied as women within the gendered politics of the club (an establishment that still does not admit women to its membership).
Civil Guards, Castile, 1963
Gelatin silver print
Estate of Evelyn Hofer
Arteries, New York, 1964
Dye transfer print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of the artist’s estate and Danziger Gallery, New York, 2021.100
In the years following World War II, New York underwent extensive infrastructural changes including the construction of highways, parks, and public housing complexes, which some viewed as a sign of progress and urban development. By contrast, many residents believed these so-called urban renewal efforts destroyed the character and street life of the city and regularly displaced communities of color and those with lower incomes. Hofer’s wide view of the city seems to align with the position of the former as she shows the midtown skyline under siege by a tangle of serpentine highways, overwhelming the streets below.
Queensboro Bridge, New York, 1964
Dye transfer print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Joe Williams and Tede Fleming, 2021.99
Santo Domingo in New York, 1964
Gelatin silver print
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, gift of the Hall Family Foundation, 2019.39.7
Four Young Men, Washington, DC, 1968
Dye transfer print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Joe Williams and Tede Fleming, 2021.104
Springtime, Washington, DC, 1965
Dye transfer print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from Joe Williams and Tede Fleming, 2021.101
Gravediggers, Dublin, 1966
Gelatin silver print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser in honor of Brett Abbott, 2016.426
Phoenix Park on a Sunday, Dublin, 1966
Dye transfer print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser in honor of Brett Abbott, 2016.442
The Quays, Dublin, 1966
Dye transfer print
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser in honor of Brett Abbott, 2016.434
Related
This exhibition is co-organized by the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri.
Premier Exhibition Series Sponsor
Premier Exhibition Series Supporters
ACT Foundation, Inc.
William N. Banks, Jr.
Cousins Foundation
Burton M. Gold
Sarah and Jim Kennedy
Benefactor Exhibition Series Supporters
Robin and Hilton Howell
Ambassador Exhibition Supporters
Mrs. Fay S. Howell/The Howell Fund
The Fred and Rita Richman Fund
Louise Sams and Jerome Grilhot
Mrs. Harriet H. Warren
Elizabeth and Chris Willett
Contributing Exhibition Series Supporters
Farideh and Al Azadi
Sandra and Dan Baldwin
Mr. Joseph H. Boland, Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Robin E. Delmer
Peggy Foreman
Helen C. Griffith
Mr. and Mrs. Baxter Jones
Joel Knox and Joan Marmo
Margot and Danny McCaul
Wade A. Rakes II & Nicholas Miller
USI Insurance Services
Generous support is also provided by
Alfred and Adele Davis Exhibition Endowment Fund, Anne Cox Chambers Exhibition Fund, Barbara Stewart Exhibition Fund, Dorothy Smith Hopkins Exhibition Endowment Fund, Eleanor McDonald Storza Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Fay and Barrett Howell Exhibition Fund, Forward Arts Foundation Exhibition Endowment Fund, Helen S. Lanier Endowment Fund, John H. and Wilhelmina D. Harland Exhibition Endowment Fund, Katherine Murphy Riley Special Exhibition Endowment Fund, Margaretta Taylor Exhibition Fund, and the RJR Nabisco Exhibition Endowment Fund