About this artwork
As it was illegal at the time to take pictures on the New York City subway, Walker Evans had to act stealthily while making this portrait. He hid a small 35mm Contax camera in his coat, the lens peeking out between the buttons, and snapped pictures of unsuspecting commuters. “My idea of what a portrait ought to be,” Evans wrote, was “anonymous and documentary and a straightforward picture of mankind.” Devoid of journalistic purpose or romantic sentimentality, Evans‘s subway portraits present a candid view of humanity within the modern urban environment.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Photography and Media
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Artist
- Walker Evans
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Title
- Untitled (Subway Portrait, New York)
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Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- Made 1938–1941
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Medium
- Gelatin silver print
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Inscriptions
- Inscribed recto, lower right, below image, in black pencil [?]: "45 [or S]"; inscribed verso, on mount, upper right, sideways, in graphite: "97"
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Dimensions
- Image: 13.9 × 20.8 cm (5 1/2 × 8 1/4 in.); Paper: 19.9 × 25 cm (7 7/8 × 9 7/8 in.); Mount: 45.6 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14 1/16 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of Mr. Arnold Crane
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Reference Number
- 1970.910