AutoPolaroids

Photography and Media

1969/70

Lucas Samaras
American, born 1936

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Photography and Media

Artist: Lucas Samaras
Title: AutoPolaroids
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 1969–1970
Medium: Gelatin silver transfer prints (18)
Inscriptions: Unmarked recto; inscribed verso, on backboard, upper left, in blue ink and graphite: "21. ["1" crossed out in graphite] A [in blue ink] / 2A [in graphite/underlined]"; verso, on backboard, upper center, in black and blue ink: "I 3-4 [in black ink/crossed out in blue ink]"
Dimensions: Each image, approx: 9.4 × 7.3 cm (3 3/4 × 2 7/8 in.); Each paper, approx: 10.6 × 8.5 cm (4 3/16 × 3 3/8 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of Robert and Gayle Greenhill
Reference Number: 1991.972

Katz, Jonathan D., David C. Ward and Jennifer Sichel. 2010. “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture.” Exh. cat. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Instititution/Smithsonian Books. pp. 196-97, pl. 58.

New York, New York, Whitney Museum of American Art, “Unrepentant Ego: The Self-Portraits of Lucas Samaras,” November 13, 2003–February 8, 2004.
Athens, Greece, National Gallery of Athens, Alexandros Soutzos Museum, “Lucas Samaras: A Retrospective,” April 4–July 31, 2005.
Washington, D.C., National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution), “Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture,” October 30, 2010-February 13, 2011; traveled to Brooklyn Museum, November 18, 2011–February 18, 2012; and the Tacoma Art Museum, March 17–June 10, 2012.

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.