John Albok papers

Collection Overview

Repository:

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives.

Creator:

Albok, John, 1894-1982.

Title:

John Albok papers

Call Number:

M0013

Dates:

1937-2012 (bulk 1940s-1960s)

Volume:

0.35 cubic ft. (1 box)

Biographical Note:

John Albok (JA) was born in Muckacs, Hungary, on November 21, 1894. He immigrated to the United States in 1921, at the age of 26, opening a one-man tailor shop on Madison Avenue, between 96th and 97th Streets. Starting at a young age, JA learned photography, which he pursued as a hobby during his life time. As a photographer he won several prizes, including Eastman Kodak, the New York Herald Tribune, and Camera Club of New York. His work was exhibited in several shows including exhibitions at the Rye Arts Center, The New York Public Library, FDR Library, and the Museum of the City of New York. JA died in 1982, leaving behind numerous photographs, which today are held in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Getty Museum in California, the Museum of the City of New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. JA's daughter, Ilona Albok Vitarius (VAV), donated materials in two accessions in 2005 and 2012.

Scope and Content Abstract:

The John Albok papers date from 1937-2012 (bulk 1940s-1960s) and measure 0.35 cubic feet. The bulk of the collection is comprised of JA's photographs of New York City and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Also found is background information related to JA and his photography, including photocopies of correspondence; a DVD of the 1966 documentary "Eye on New York;" press clippings; and writings.

Location:

CF2.1

Language:

Collection is primarily in English.

Arrangement:

Organized into 2 series: 1. Background Information; 2. Photographic Materials.

Restrictions:

The collection is unrestricted.

Publication Rights:

Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the Manager of the Library and Archives.

Preferred Citation:

John Albok papers. M0013. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Archives, New York, NY.

Subjects:

Albok, John, 1894-1981.
Museum of Non-Objective Painting.
Photography--History--20th Century.
Photography.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Street Photography--New York (State)--New York.

Finding aid prepared by Sarah Haug and Lisa Lopez in March 12, 2013.

Biographical Note

John Albok (JA) was born in Munkacs, Hungary, on November 21, 1894. He was originally known as Janos Albok, changing his first name to John Albok when he immigrated to the United States in 1921, at the age of 26. JA was the eldest of eleven children. At the age of eight, he started working with his father at his father's tailor shop. JA learned photography as a young boy yet he developed a career as a tailor, receiving a large silver medal for the most outstanding student in 1911 in a master tailor's school. When he immigrated to the United States, he settled in New York City, opening a one-man tailor shop on Madison Avenue, between 96th and 97th Street. During his leisure time he continued to pursue his interest in photography, photographing functions for Hungarian churches and synagogues and shooting portraits in the store. He also documented his neighborhood and the depression era. In 1929, JA won First Prize in the Eastman Kodak Amateur Picture Contest for his portrait of daughter Ilona. In 1933, he was the triple prize winner of "Daily Snapshot Contest," and between 1938 and 1942, won fifteen prizes in the prestigious New York Herald Tribune Amateur Photo Contest. His work has been exhibited in several shows which include: the first one-person exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, "Faces of the City;" Rye Arts Center, "American Dream;" The New York Public Library, "Self Portraits, Prints & Photographs;" a one-man show at the FDR Library, Hyde Park, New York, "New York City During the Roosevelt Years, 1933-1945;" and a retrospective, "Tailored Images," at the Museum of the City of New York in 1982. JA passed away days before the opening of his final show. A documentary film was produced by Gordon Hyatt on JA in 1966, "John Albok's New York." This film aired on CBS and won an Emmy Award nomination. JA's work is in the collections of many intuitions including The Metropolitan Museum of New York, the Getty Museum in California, Museum of the City of New York, the Dallas Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. JA's daughter, Ilona Albok Vitarius (VAV), donated materials in two accessions in 2005 and 2012.

Chronology

	1894	Born Janos Albok in Munkacs, Hungry, November 21. Eldest of eleven children.
	1904	Works in father's tailor shop at age eight.
	1907	Exchanges binoculars for Kodak Brownie box camera. Builds a darkroom in the basement of the family home. Begins apprenticeship with master tailor.
	1911	Travels to Debrecen, Hungary to enroll in a master tailor's school. Receives large silver medal for most outstanding student.
	1917	Inducted into the Hungarian Army. Continues his interest in photography by documenting prison life with a folding camera with a double anastigmatic lens. All but one of the photographs was exhibited, never to be returned to him.
	1919	Father and two sisters die during the war.
	1921	Immigrates to America at the age of twenty-six and settles in New York City. At Ellis Island, his baggage contains a pair of tailor shears, violin, and a 5x7 wooden camera.
	1923	Establishes John Albok-Merchant Tailor, a one-man tailor shop on Madison Avenue, between 96th and 97th Streets.
	1924	Marries Ilona Kiss. Lives a few blocks away from the tailor shop at 112th Street and Madison Avenue.
	1925	First and only child, Ilona is born. Purchases a 16mm Simplex Pocket movie camera. Moves to a new apartment at 50 E. 96th Street.
	1927	Business thrives. Moves to a new six room apartment at 1391 Madison Avenue.
	1929	Wins First Prize in the Eastman Kodak Amateur Picture Contest for his portrait of daughter Ilona taken with the 5x7 camera brought from Hungary.
	1930	Depression strikes. Forced to close the Madison Avenue tailor shop. Works as a tailor and portrait photographer out of two rooms in the ground floor apartment at 1391 Madison Avenue.
	1932	Reopens the tailor shop at 1391 Madison Avenue, which doubles as an art gallery. In the evenings behind closed curtains it becomes a social club for artists, musicians, and writers.
	1933	Triple prize winner of "Daily Snapshot Contest" sponsored by Chrysler Tower Corp. and the "Daily Mirror."
	1938	First one-person exhibition, "Faces of the City" at the Museum of the City of New York, curated by Grace Mayer. Wins fifteen prizes in the prestigious "New York Herald Tribune" Amateur Photo Contest between the years 1938 and 1942. Opens "World's Fair Studio" a portrait studio on 96th St. between Lexington and Park Avenue. Lectures are presented in the evenings. Purchases a 16mm Bell and Howell camera. Moves his family to an apartment above the tailor shop.
	1939	Invited to exhibit and lecture at The Rockefeller Center Camera Club at Radio City Music Hall. Roams the streets with the movie camera producing a body of work concerning the labor movement. Produces a portfolio of work on the New York World's Fair, comprising nearly 200 prints, and approximately 300 medium format, black and white negatives.
	1950-1960	Continues selling portraiture, along with tailoring. Concentrates on photographing large areas of New York City such as Rockefeller Center and Central Park.
	1960's	CBS discovers Albok's work, and subsequently produces a documentary of Albok's photographs; "John Albok's New York" receives an Emmy nomination, and the Cine Golden Eagle Award in Washington, D.C. Many prints are acquired during these years by museums and private collectors. Sales to Coronet, Esquire, Seagram's, Rand McNally, MacMillan Publishing Co., and others.
	1966	One-person exhibition, "Through the Eye of a Needle," organized by CBS for the International Photography Fair at the New York Coliseum. International venue of "John Albok's New York" includes Italy, Scotland, England, Egypt, and Germany. Group exhibition, "Camera Out of Doors, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
	1970	At the request of Hungarian People's Republic's Ambassador, Albok attends the laying of the wreath at the NYC grave of Bela Bartok, the great Hungarian composer. Albok's photographs of this event are published in the Budapest newspaper, "Magyar Hirek."
	1973-75	One-person exhibition, "New York City During the Roosevelt Years, 1933-1945, at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, NY.
	1976	One-person exhibition, "The Hungarian Chronicler," at Magyar Munkasmozgalmi Museum, the worker's museum in the Budavari Palace, Budapest, Hungary.
	1977	One-person exhibition at the Pratt Institute-School of Art and Design, Brooklyn, NY.
	1979	"John Albok-Merchant Tailor," a Swedish documentary film, is produced and receives recognition in Cannes, France at the Television Fair. "Those Golden Years," another Swedish documentary, portrays Albok as a senior citizen, broadcast on PBS-WNET channel. 13.
	1980	Two-person exhibition, "New York in the Thirties-Faces and Facades," with Berenice Abbott, organized by the Museum of the City of New York, makes a debut in Berlin and later in Heidelberg, Germany.
	1981	Retires from the tailor shop due to failing health.
	1982	Retrospective exhibition, "Tailored Images," opens at the Museum of the City of New York. One hundred-forty images are featured, co-curated by daughter Ilona. John Albok dies at age 87 on January 9, one day before the opening of his tribute exhibition. Eulogized nationwide by Charles Kuralt.
	1982 to present	Posthumous credits include thirty one-person and group exhibitions, and numerous inclusions in periodicals and journals, and publications by museums and galleries.
	1994	"John Albok's New York: A Personal Vision" Laurence Miller Gallery, New York. October 27-December 3, 1994.
	1997	"Through the Eye of the Needle," retrospective exhibition at Budapest Gallery, Hungary. Approximately 120 photographs. Catalog published in conjunction with the exhibit.
	1998	"New York: A Sidewalk View: John Albok, Helen Levitt, Walter Rosenblum," at Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, Texas. May 1-June 13, 1998.

Box	Folder	Title	Date
514	1	Correspondence [Photocopies of originals dated 1941, 1966, 1973-2011]	circa 2012
514	2	"Eye on New York" Documentary [1966; includes DVD]	2012
514	3	Press Clippings	undated
514	4	Sayings and Writings	undated

Box	Folder	Title			Date
		New York City
514	5		Central Park [11 transparencies]		1965-1974
514	6		Labor Day Parade [13 transparencies]		circa 1962-1963
514	7		Street Scenes		1937-1980
514	8		Street Scenes [12 transparencies and 1 negative]		1961-1968
514	9		World War II Rally		1943
		Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
514	10		Building Construction [1 negative]		1950s
514	11		Building Exterior from Central Park [1 transparency]		undated
514	12		Building Exterior with Good Humor Truck [1 transparency]		undated
			Opening Day
514	13			Building Exterior	1959
514	14			Couple Outside Museum	1959
514	15			Four Women Outside Museum	1959
514	16			Interior Exhibition	1959
514	17			"Onlookers"	1959
514	18			Partial Building Exterior and High Rises	1959
514	19			Sculpture	1959
514	20		David Smith Exhibition: Installation Views		1969

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

John Albok papers