New York City in the 1940s

Photography by John Fass

 

 
Above: Prometheus statue at Rockefeller Center

 

 
John Fass' career in printing, publishing, and graphic design kept him in Manhattan for much of his life. John was a country boy at heart, having grown up in Lancaster County, PA. Despite his lifelong celebration of his rural roots, John's photography also showcases his enthusiasm for his adopted city of New York.

Many of his urban photographs from the 1940s reflect the modern, precisionist sensibilities of the two Pennsylvania artists who pioneered Precisionism in modern art: Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler. Some of his other New York photographs document daily street life of the city, which he observed and photographed as an adopted son of the city.

 

 
Above: Reilly's Square Deal Market

 

 

Above:  View from the park

 

 
 Above: Chinatown

 

 
 Above: Atlas statue and NBC building at Rockefeller Center

 

 
Above:  The Flatiron Building

 

Above:  Liberal loans, a fish, and the Empire State Building

 

 
Above: Manhattan skyline seen from Brooklyn
 

 
 Above:  The Chrysler Building

 

 
Above:  The New York Public Library

 

 Above:  The New York Public Library

 

 
 Above:  The New York Public Library

 

 
 Above:  Ticker tape parade

 

 
  Above: Window shopping

 

 

Above:  The George Washington Bridge

 

 

 Above: Square with fountain

 

 

Above: Square with fountain

 

 
 
Above:  Manhattan skyline seen from Brooklyn

 

 
 Above:  U. S. S. Missouri in New York

 
 
 Above:  George Washington statue on Wall Street