Skip to Content

Thought

A work made of gelatin silver print.
© Abelardo Morell, courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.

Image actions

  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

2001

Artist:

Abelardo Morell
American, born Cuba 1948

About this artwork

Abelardo Morell’s series on books depicts them simultaneously as conveyors of information and as palpable, even multisensory, objects. In 1995 he accepted a position as artist-in-residence at the Boston Athenaeum, an independent library and museum that was founded in 1807. “One of the big pleasures of this project has come from spending a good amount of time looking at, holding, smelling, and reading a terrific number of skinny, fat, tall, pompous, modest, funny, sad, proud, injured, and radiant books,” he later wrote. Recognizing that the physical features of books affect our perception of their contents, Morell transformed these humble, familiar things in ways that continue to occupy him to this day. In this work, he injected a note of humor, chuckling at the idea that all of human thought could be contained in this single volume.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Abelardo Morell

Title

Thought

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 2001

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Edition

6 of 30

Dimensions

Image: 45.5 × 57 cm (17 15/16 × 22 1/2 in.); Paper: 50.5 × 61 cm (19 15/16 × 24 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser

Reference Number

2014.1222

Copyright

© Abelardo Morell, courtesy of Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York.

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.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Learn more

Image actions

Share