After Gropius resigned from the Bauhaus, the influential German design school he had founded and directed for almost a decade, he visited the United States. He was surprised to find that much American architecture was less modern than that of the stripped-down "machine-aesthetic" Bauhaus style. This startling photograph nevertheless reveals that Gropius found the Flatiron's prowlike profile irresistibly exciting, despite the building's old-fashioned decoration.
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Inscription: Signed on print, verso UL: "Prof. Gropius";
[Egidio Marzona, Düsseldorf, Germany]; [Prakapas Gallery, Bronxville, New York]; John C. Waddell, New York (March 9, 1983)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "New York New York," May 7–September 15, 2002.
Victoria and Albert Museum. "Modernism," April 6, 2006–July 23, 2006.
MARTa Herford. "Modernism," September 16, 2006–January 7, 2007.
Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Modernism," March 17, 2007–July 18, 2007.
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