Irving Underhill

• Illustration — Irving Underhill, Luna Park and Surf Avenue, Coney Island, 1912. Gelatin dry glass plate negative. Brooklyn Museum • Illustration — Irving Underhill, Manhattan Bridge Construction 1909 Underhill took a particular interest in capturing the cityscape, landmarks, tall buildings, and nautical scenes. In 1911 Woolworth hired Underhill - whose studio directly fronted the building site - to document the construction of the Woolworth Building at regularly timed intervals. The photographs were then mailed to store managers throughout the country and abroad, with the recommendation that they be distributed and published as "widely as possible." Another self-published work that was a promotional piece in collaboration with the Hudson River Day Line was entitled The Hudson River: photo-gravures. He was enlisted in the Prohibition with photographs from a Federal Prohibition Laboratory that accompanied a 1926 New York Times article, showing shelves and shelves of liquor. Irving Underhill was particularly adept at showing the juxtaposition of old pedestrian-scaled buildings and newer skyscrapers that seemed to dominate the older city. Such was the case with one photo of the Trinity Church Spire, shown against the new fifty-story 1 Wall Street at Broadway and Wall, which in 1931 was said to be the most costly plot of real estate in the entire world. Underhill also photographed the rise of the Empire State Building. In an article celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Architectural League of New York, in 1931, an article in The New York Times entitled "From Roofs to Towers and Slats", prominently featured a photograph Irving Underhill. This photograph showed the skyline below City Hall Park at the beginning of the century, to symbolize the passing of an era before tall buildings began to dominate the cityscape. In 1982, a book entitled New York, photographs, 1850-1950 featured some of Underhill's work, particular his photo of Columbus Circle between 58th and 60th Streets. A photo of the Woolworth Building in 1913 made shortly after construction was completed was highlighted in a 1993 New York Times article. Charles Hagen compared this photo with an etching from John Marin about the same time, and wrote "Irving Underhill's photo, made the same year, offers a more sober depiction of the building's Gothic forms than Marin's giddy impression, but records it with a mixture of down-to-earth factuality and pride." Irving Underhill's work was displayed along with Berenice Abbott's in 1993 exhibition by the Museum of the City of New York entitled "New York Saved: 30 Years of Landmarks Preservation." The exhibition displayed Underhill's photo of the exterior of Grand Central Terminal in 1919. Still later, a photograph showing the West Street Building and the Singer Tower from the Hudson River, taken by Underhill ca. 1908, was included in a book on Cass Gilbert. The work of Irving Underhill continues to resonate today. A colored postcard of Columbus Circle from 1925, was used in a 2005 New York Times article. His picture of the Manhattan Bridge from a New York Times article in 1909, was highlighted in a 2009 article talking about the same bridge and how it has struggled to earn recognition and respect. Underhill's photo shows the beginning of decking being hung tenuously from the thick and heavy cables overhead. Digitization efforts have brought Underhill's work into the public spotlight once again. The New York Public Library Digital Gallery, includes 249 Items under the name "Underhill, Irving" in their digital collection available via their website. Likewise, the Museum of the City of New York has 142 results of digitized images available to view in their online collection. The Brooklyn Museum now has 119 Underhill images in their online digital collection.