1934 Art and Industry Exhibition Photograph Collection

The 1934 Art and Industry Exhibition Photograph Collection consists of 117 photographic prints used in an exhibition sponsored by The National Alliance of Art and Industry and The Photographic Illustrators, Inc. The exhibition was held at Rockefeller Center, New York City, September 18-October 6, 1934, and at The Lake Side Press Galleries, November 1934. The intended purpose of the exhibition was to promote the importance of design in commerce and industry, demonstrate that beauty and sales values were complimentary to civilization, and to emphasize a trend toward a national visual style. The photographs in the collection represent documentary photography, studio photography, and advertising photography. The bulk of the photographs are black and white images with a small portion of the collection being color prints. Prominent photographers whose work is represented in this collection include Margaret Bourke-White, Russell Aikins, Alfred Cheney Johnston, Victor Keppler, Gordon Coster, Anton Bruehl, and Nickolas Muray, among others.