Ironwork, New York

The work in this and the following lot were mounted for the exhibition, "Aaron Siskind: 30 Recent Photographs," at the Egan Gallery in 1947. Charles Egan's gallery on East Fifty-seventh Street opened in 1946 and was at the time one of the only places in New York where the work of the avant-garde American artists could be seen, including that of De Kooning and Rothko. Siskind's was the first photographic work to be shown at the gallery and in the press-release for the exhibition it stated that the gallery decided to show his work "because it believes that [Siskind's] work is a truly creative expression." (Pleasures and Terrors, p. 70.)