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)

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

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 view

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