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Collage

A work made of dye imbibition print.

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  • A work made of dye imbibition print.

Date:

1956/57

Artist:

Harry Callahan
American, 1912–1999

About this artwork

A self-taught photographer from Detroit, Harry Callahan became one of the most influential educators and practitioners of photography in America in the 20th century. Callahan built a body of work that was at once humanistic and restlessly experimental, ever pushing the boundaries of photographic conventions and materials. Callahan often set himself a challenge within strict technical or formal parameters—photographing, for example, female pedestrians on the street from a particular distance, or his wife and daughter in a series of posed 8 x 10–inch “snapshots.” In 1956–57 he experimented with collage, cutting up pieces of paper and fashion and advertising photographs, arranging them like a jigsaw puzzle in his studio, and photographing them as one would a still life. Callahan produced the collages in black and white and in color; the numerous faces and hands in this color composition give an impression of a mass of flesh.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Harry Callahan

Title

Collage

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1956–1957

Medium

Dye imbibition print

Inscriptions

Signed recto, lower right, below image, in graphite: "Harry Callahan"; inscribed verso, upper left, in graphite: "C 13"; verso, lower right, in graphite: "#10"

Dimensions

Image: 22.4 × 34.2 cm (8 7/8 × 13 1/2 in.); Paper: 26.7 × 35.4 cm (10 9/16 × 13 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg

Reference Number

1991.1289

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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