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Primordial Pool

Color photograph of dark, murky water with green algae. Surrounding trees reflect clearly off the surface of the water.

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  • Color photograph of dark, murky water with green algae. Surrounding trees reflect clearly off the surface of the water.

Date:

1940/62

Artist:

Howard Dearstyne
American, 1903–1979

About this artwork

Leafless autumn trees cast their reflections on small eddies of algae that swirl at the surface of a shallow pond. This pensive photograph was made by Howard Dearstyne, the only American student to graduate from the German Bauhaus, having studied at its Dessau and Berlin locations. After returning to the United States to teach architectural history, he continued to make photographs, specializing in color images of nature. Dearstyne thought of these works in relation to painting: “All the kinds and categories of visual effects found in painting,” he wrote, “can at some time, somewhere, be observed in the physical world about us.”

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Howard Dearstyne

Title

Primordial Pool

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 1940–1962

Medium

Chromogenic print

Dimensions

Image/paper: 24 × 34.8 cm (9 1/2 × 13 3/4 in.); Mount: 24.7 × 35.6 cm (9 3/4 × 14 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Howard Dearstyne

Reference Number

1962.385

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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