Estates of Berenice Abbott and Arnold Newman to be Represented by Howard Greenberg Gallery

The Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, has recently acquired exclusive representative rights for the estates of photographers Berenice Abbott (1898-1991) and Arnold Newman (1918-2006).

Newman is known for his innovative portraiture and nuanced abstract still lifes. Abbott's photography is known for its austere clarity in her cool and detached portrayal of the ever changing urban climate in New York. Her work will be the subject of a series of books which will be published this fall by Steidl, a German book publisher which has previously covered both Abbott and Newman.

The artists' estates were previously handled by Commerce Graphics and KG Fine Arts through a partnership between Commerce Graphics and the Howard Greenberg Gallery. The representative rights were transferred to the Howard Greenberg Gallery upon the retirement announcement of Ronald Kurtz, founder of Commerce Graphics, who plans to close the establishment later this month.

Greenberg assisted Kurtz in the acquisition of Berenice Abbott's estate in 1985 which facilitated Kurtz's creation of Commerce Graphics as vehicle of representation for Abbott's work. Soon after its inception, Commerce Graphics also began to represent the work of Arnold Newman.

In a press release, Howard Greenberg said of Ronald Kurtz, "Ron was instrumental in nurturing the careers of Berenice Abbott and Arnold Newman." Kurtz responded that "there is no one I would trust more than Howard with the task of preserving and enhancing the legacy of these two artists that are among the greatest in the history of photography."