Documenting Modernism

Documenting Modernism

A new exhibition at The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, celebrates the bold architectural landmarks of the 20th century through images by influential photographer Ezra Stoller (1915-2004).

Pioneers of American Modernism captures internationally-renowned modernist structures including New York’s The Guggenheim Museum; the former Whitney Museum of American Art; Manhattan skyscrapers; the TWA Terminal at Kennedy International Airport and Fallingwater house, Pennsylvania.

The show highlights Stoller’s unique vision whilst capturing groundbreaking constructions by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Louis Kahn, Le Corbusier, Paul Rudolph and Marcel Breuer.

Reshaping perceptions of the urban landscape, the images play with the buildings’ undulating curves and clean lines, crafting a polished and futuristic aesthetic.

The collection includes black and white photographs of public buildings, offices and private homes from the very beginning of his career in the late 1930s to the 1970s.

As Pulitzer Prize Winner, American architecture critic and writer for The New Yorker, Paul Goldberger notes: “[Stoller’s photos] are surely among the most reproduced, and they have in and of themselves played a major role in shaping the public’s perceptions of what modern architecture is all about.”

The exhibition runs until 9 February. Find out more here. 

Credits:
1. Ezra Stoller General Motors Technical Center. Eero Saarinen. Warren, MI, 1950 © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
2. Ezra Stoller Cohen House. Paul Rudolph. Siesta Key, FL, 1955 © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
3. Ezra Stoller TWA Terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport. Eero Saarinen. New York, NY, 1962. © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
4. Ezra Stoller Exxon Building on Sixth Avenue. Harrison and Abramovitz. New York, 1974 © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
5. Ezra Stoller, Guggenheim Museum. Frank Lloyd Wright. New York, NY, 1959 © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
6. Ezra Stoller, Miami Parking Garage. Robert Law Weed and Associates. Miami, FL, 1949. © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.
7. Ezra Stoller, TWA Terminal at Idlewild (now JFK) Airport. Eero Saarinen. New York, NY, 1962 © Ezra Stoller, Courtesy Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.