Icons as Art

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University (1963), Cambridge, Massachusetts. Architect: Le Corbusier. Photographed in 1987.

FOR MORE THAN THIRTY YEARS, ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER STEVE ROSENTHAL CREATED extraordinarily beautiful images of buildings with his camera. Because of his ability to produce photographs that are both artistic achievements and documentary records, countless clients—including architects, building owners, and developers—sought out Steve to capture their buildings on film and as digital images. His work illustrates hundreds of books, periodicals, and newspapers. As this sample of his portfolio shows, Steve is responsible for some of the most notable photographs of iconic New England buildings made during the last half century.

The following pages celebrate the gift that Steve and his wife, Kit, gave to Historic New England: the Steve Rosenthal Collection of Commissioned Work. We are honored that they selected us to be the stewards of their archive. Exceptionally well organized, it includes negatives, transparencies, digital files, prints, and publications highlighting Steve’s work, and oral histories, among other items. It is an immensely valuable resource for photo historians, architects, architectural historians, and the public. —Lorna Condon Senior Curator, Library and Archives

top left 75 State Street (1988), Boston. Architect: Graham Gund Architects in association with Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Photographed in 1989. top right John Hancock Tower (1976), Boston. Architect: I. M. Pei and Partners, Henry N. Cobb, design partner. Photographed in 1981. bottom Faneuil Hall Marketplace (1976), Boston. Architect: Benjamin Thompson and Associates. Photographed in 1978.

Rowes Wharf (1987), Boston. Architect: Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Photographed in 1987.

City Hall (1968), Boston. Architect: Kallmann, McKinnell & Knowles. Photographed in 1974.

Class of 1945 Library (1971), Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire. Architect: Louis I. Kahn. Photographed in 1996.

Portland Museum of Art (1983), Portland, Maine. Architect: I. M. Pei and Partners, Henry N. Cobb, design partner. Photographed in 1983.

West Wing addition (1981), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Architect: I. M. Pei and Partners. Photographed in 1981.