Press Release: Alexander Artway's Photography: Light & Legacy

September 2, 2024

Press Release

© Alexander Artway, Untitled (The Normandie), c. 1930.

Alexander artway’s photography:

Light & legacy

Alexander Artway (1903–1970s) was born Alexander Artemiev in Gomel, Belarus. After years of exile in Europe, he immigrated to New York in 1922, where he became captivated by the city’s architecture, eventually earning a degree in architecture from NYU in 1934. His camera documented the rise of New York’s skyline, his travels across the globe as a Merchant Marine captain, and later, his life as a family man in Philadelphia. Artway’s work embodies the immigrant experience, resilience through upheaval, and the celebration of modern life through photography

The Alexander Artway Archive, based in Philadelphia, houses approximately 3,000 vintage prints and 4,000 negatives. It is dedicated to preserving, researching, and promoting Artway’s photography, ensuring his artistic legacy continues to inspire future generations.

Exhibition Dates:

September 2 – 28, 2025

Location:

Old City Jewish Art Center

119 N 3rd Street

Philadelphia, PA 19106

Gallery Hours:

Monday–Saturday, 11 AM–5 PM; Sunday, 11 AM–4 PM; First Fridays, 11 AM–9 PM by appointment at (215) 627-2792

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Opening Reception + Shabbat Dinner:

First Friday, September 5 | 5–9 PM (Shabbat Dinner at 9 PM)

Talk & Meet and Greet with Jeanette Artway Jimenez:

Sunday, September 14 | 2–4 PM

Closing Reception:

Sunday, September 28 | 2–4 PM

Alexander Artway, Untitled (Empire State Building & Part of the News Building), c. 1930.

 

PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA – The Old City Jewish Art Center proudly presents Alexander Artway’s Photography: Light & Legacy, on view September 2–28, 2025. Curated by Amie Potsic, CEO & Principal Curator of Amie Potsic Art Advisory, the exhibition is a featured program of the 20/20 Photo Festival in Philadelphia and unveils the extraordinary archive of photographer Alexander Artway alongside contemporary works by photographer Katie Butterfield Tackman.

Together, their images illuminate the enduring power of photography to preserve memory, document history, and reveal the poetry of light.

Born in Gomel, Belarus in 1903, Alexander Artway’s life reflects resilience, reinvention, and the immigrant experience. Conscripted into the White Army before fleeing Europe wounded, Artway arrived at Ellis Island in 1922 and immersed himself in the vibrant, ever-changing cityscape of New York. He photographed its rising skyscrapers, bustling streets, and quiet corners with a discerning eye, later expanding his vision across the world as a captain in the Merchant Marines.

His archive—meticulously preserved by his daughter, Jeanette Artway Jimenez—contains over 3,000 vintage prints and 4,000 negatives, many hidden for decades in a battered suitcase that became a vessel of family history and cultural memory.

Jimenez explains, “He created me and I rescued his legacy – and an important part of American and Russian history – the immigrant experience, something that shaped my values along with my father’s unconventional and artistic values, which helped me become the strong woman I am.”

Jimenez herself is a distinguished Philadelphia educator and cultural steward. A Temple University graduate, she inspired generations of students through her creative, student-centered teaching at the Parkway program, including Cherelle Parker—now the first female mayor of Philadelphia—who credits Jimenez with helping her discover the power of her own voice. By safeguarding her father’s archive, Jimenez has extended her lifelong commitment to empowerment, education, and the preservation of cultural history.

Remembering the harrowing moment she acquired his photographs, Jimenez recalled, “My father died suddenly of a heart attack on August 25, 1963 at the age of 60. I was twenty-one and living on my own at college. I had one hour to return home and take a few of his possessions. I picked a battered suitcase filled with photographs he had taken and his camera. I have kept this suitcase with me throughout my life, moving it from apartments to houses, across the country and back. The suitcase contained all that I knew of my extended family.”

This exhibition pairs Artway’s historic photographs with Tackman’s contemporary, collagecollaborations, bridging past and present through visual dialogue. Tackman’s work extends Artway’s imagery into new narratives of memory, history, and belonging.

Thanks to Jimenez’s determination, Artway’s photographs are now part of the permanent collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and presented by Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto.

Light & Legacy marks a rare opportunity for audiences to experience Artway’s photographs in depth, celebrating a body of work that resonates far beyond one man’s life to speak to themes of immigration, resilience, and artistic vision

© Katie Butterfield Tackman, Untiltled (Artway Collage 5), 2025

About Katie Butterfield Tackman

Katie Butterfield Tackman is a Philadelphia-based artist, photographer, and fine art printer. A graduate of Drexel University in Photography, she is the founder of Butterfield Editions, specializing in photo editing and fine art printing for artists. She is also a founding member of Gravy Studio + Gallery and co-founder of the 20/20 Photo Festival, helping to shape the city’s photography community through exhibitions and programming. In collaboration with the Alexander Artway Archive, Tackman creates collages that merge her contemporary photography with Artway’s historic imagery, exploring history, memory, and narrative.