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Georgia

Artist (American, 1943 - 2017)
Date2007
Mediumpigment print
DimensionsImage: 17 3/8 × 11 5/8 in. (44.1 × 29.5 cm)
Support: 19 × 12 7/8 in. (48.3 × 32.7 cm)
Mat: 24 × 18 in. (61 × 45.7 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Christopher Benson in honor of his uncle Richard Benson, 2017
Object number2017.16.2
DescriptionAt center of composition running from top to bottom is a post holding four metal signs. At top is a round, orange-yellow railroad crossing sign with a black X and “RR”; below it is an octagonal sign in red with white edging and letter spelling “STOP”; below it is another round railroad crossing sign that is more yellow and bears the X and letters “RR”; the bottom sign is another octagonal stop sign, a more faded red, with white edges and letters spelling “STOP”. Behind the sign is a brown, grassy area with railroad tracks at left and tall agricultural buildings in right background.
Text Entries
The donor, Christopher Benson, is a painter living in Santa Fe and is Richard Benson’s nephew. He says that his uncle was sixteen years older than he but that they grew up together as two artists. He also calls Chip his teacher and describes him as a second brother. During one college summer, Christopher worked in his uncle’s shop while he was printing the deluxe volume of work from the Gilman Paper Company.
This composition of ordinary traffic signs is fondly and meticulously rendered from the bright red of one stop sign to the faded matte finish of another. Benson enjoyed traveling around the country by car and taking pictures, often with friends. The appeal of the railroad, the rural setting, and the bounty of urgent signage caught his eye, but he spent time taking in the scene and later trying to recreate it as he remembered it.
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