About this artwork
Arthur Siegel was central to the photographic scene of mid-20th-century Chicago and had a lengthy engagement with the city’s innovative Institute of Design, first as a student and later as a professor. Combining avant-garde experimentalism with documentary practice, Siegel exhibited his photographs in fine-art venues while maintaining a career in commercial photography and photojournalism. In 1951, shortly after undergoing Freudian analysis, he began the series In Search of Myself, which depicted shoppers on State Street in an effort to explore the complex relationship between identity and consumerism. Employing multiple exposures and taking advantage of the repeated reflections in shop windows, Siegel blended shoppers, commodities, and the streets in a dizzying urban bustle.
-
Status
- Currently Off View
-
Department
- Photography and Media
-
Artist
- Arthur Siegel
-
Title
- In Search of Myself
-
Place
- United States (Artist's nationality:)
-
Date
- Made 1950–1959
-
Medium
- Dye transfer print
-
Inscriptions
- Signed verso, center, in blue ink: "Arthur Siegel / '51"; inscribed verso, center, in blue ink: "1/6" [encircled]; inscribed verso, top right, in graphite: "10" [encircled]; inscribed verso, lower left, in graphite; "10288" "1 of 4" "A.S." [encircled]
-
Dimensions
- Image: 25.5 × 17.2 cm (10 1/16 × 6 13/16 in.); Mount: 38.1 × 30.5 cm (15 × 12 1/16 in.)
-
Credit Line
- Gift of Irene Siegel in honor of Liz Siegel and Kate Bussard
-
Reference Number
- 2014.1237
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.
