American Rural Baroque
Artist
Ralph Steiner
(American, 1899 - 1986)
Date1929 (printed 1980-1981)
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 8 × 10 1/2 in. (20.3 × 26.7 cm)
Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of anonymous donor, 2013
Object number2013.40.6
DescriptionOrnate wicker rocking chair sitting at an angle on a wooden porch and casting its shadow on the wall behind. Also visible are a wooden pillar and a window with a shutter.eMuseum Notes
A versatile photographer, Ralph Steiner was captivated by American vernacular culture and its expression in architecture, billboards, and signage. A meeting with the photographer Paul Strand convinced Steiner to switch to an 8 x 10-inch camera and to rededicate himself to the craft of photography. This picture of a wicker rocker and its elaborate shadow resulted from that effort and, though the subject reflects Steiner’s own interests, is perhaps also a nod to the porch shadows and abstractions that Strand had photographed a little more than a decade earlier.
On View
Not on viewRalph Steiner
1924 (printed 1980)
Ralph Steiner
1924 (printed 1980)
Ralph Steiner
1922 (printed 1980)
Ralph Steiner
1924 (printed 1980)
Ralph Steiner
1922 (printed 1980)
Tom Chambers
2010 (printed 2011)