Untitled (Woman's hand with rings)
Artist
Walker Evans
(American, 1903 - 1975)
DateOctober 23, 1974
Mediumdye diffusion print (Polaroid SX-70)
DimensionsSupport: 3 1/8 × 3 1/8 in. (7.9 × 7.9 cm)
Support: 4 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (10.8 × 8.9 cm)
Support: 4 1/4 × 3 1/2 in. (10.8 × 8.9 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Virginia Hubbard, 2017
Object number2017.19
DescriptionClose view of a Caucasian woman’s hand extending from top of picture to bottom. Hand is slender with long, well-manicured fingernails. Two small rings on index finger and a larger ring on ring finger (3rd finger). Woman appears to be wearing a brown garment on the bottom and an orange fabric top sprinkled with flowers. She appears to be seated on a light-colored fabric bench or chair.Text Entries
Donor was a beneficiary of Walker Evans’ estate due to her close personal relationship with the artist. She now co-owns a group of Polaroid SX-70 prints with her son Ezra Hubbard, who has donated prints to the collection. Ms. Hubbard would also like to make an annual donation of a Polaroid print.
Walker
Evans is considered one of the masters of twentieth century photography and his
work in the medium continues to exert considerable influence in the field and
command high prices. The opportunity to acquire work by Evans is a significant
one. The addition of these pieces amplifies the museum’s holding of Evans’
work; speaks directly to the recent acquisition of work by William
Christenberry; connects with images of vernacular subjects by Ansel Adams and
others; augments the holding of Polaroid prints by Patrick Nagatani and Olivia
Parker; and continues to fill out the story of color photography in artmaking
in this collection. The work also adds to the museum’s collection of
photographs that are unique objects rather than multiples.
Best
known for his influential black-and-white photographs of mid-century American
vernacular architecture and signage – as well as the powerful photographs he
made in the southern U.S. during his short stint with the Farm Security
Administration – Evans began making color pictures with the Polaroid SX-70
camera in 1972 and used it for two years, creating more than 2,400 images. His
lifelong love of text, signs, home-made objects, and things that bear evidence
of time or heavy use are evident in this piece.
On View
Not on view1998
Tom Chambers
2010 (printed 2011)
Gay Block
1988 (printed 2001)