id: 146179
accession number: 1971.72
share license status: Copyrighted
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.72
updated: 2023-12-08 05:19:49.907000
In My Dreams I Don't See Myself, 1970. John William Cook (American, 1940–1978). Chromogenic process color print, manipulated; image: 24 x 18.9 cm (9 7/16 x 7 7/16 in.); matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Wishing Well Fund 1971.72 © John William Cook
title: In My Dreams I Don't See Myself
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creation date: 1970
creation date earliest: 1970
creation date latest: 1970
current location:
creditline: Wishing Well Fund
copyright: © John William Cook
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culture: America, 19th century
technique: chromogenic process color print, manipulated
department: Photography
collection: PH - American 19th Century
type: Photograph
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catalogue raisonne:
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CREATORS
* John William Cook (American, 1940–1978) - artist
John William Cook American, 1940 - 1978 The images of John William Cook (born in Cleveland) reveal his interest in archetypes, alchemy, and the magic inherent in the photographic process. Using both straight and manipulated formats, he relied on chance and lack of conscious effort in creating his color and black-and-white prints. "It is possible to find one's relationship to the unconscious via one's images," he wrote. "The very moment you try to direct from the thinking mind, everything fails. The same state can be repeated in the darkroom which then becomes a laboratory for visual experimentation." This ideology reflects the influence of Minor White, with whom Cook studied at the Rochester Institute of Technology (A.A.S. in photography, 1960). He also studied with Jerry Uelsmann at the University of Florida. Cook remained in contact with White throughout his life and was instrumental in bringing the master's photography workshops to Cleveland. Leaving graduate school in 1961 for lack of funds, he worked in a photo lab and as staff photographer for an Atlanta-based advertising firm. He returned to Cleveland in 1963 and worked for five years as staff photographer for the Cleveland Museum of Art, where he met his wife, Sara Jane Pearman, the museum's slide librarian. He was a regular participant in the museum's May Shows (regional juried exhibitions) and won many awards. Cook left his post at the museum to teach at the University of Akron while continuing to pursue his own work. He died suddenly of leukemia in 1978. At the time of his death, he was nearing completion of a series of photomontages on the Book of Genesis. In Cook's memory, his widow established an endowment fund to acquire photographs for the museum's collection. A.W.
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measurements: Image: 24 x 18.9 cm (9 7/16 x 7 7/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 40.6 cm (20 x 16 in.)
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inscription: Written in pencil on recto: "1970 John W. Cook [signed]"
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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
title: The May Show: 52nd Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists and Craftsmen of The Western Reserve
opening date: 1971-05-05T04:00:00
The May Show: 52nd Annual Exhibition of Works by Artists and Craftsmen of The Western Reserve. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 5-June 13, 1971).
title: Year in Review: 1971
opening date: 1971-12-28T05:00:00
Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS
* CMA, May 5 - June 13, 1971: "52nd May Show -- Annual Exhibitioon of Artists and Craftsmen of the Western Reserve," CMA Bulletin 58 (May 1971), p. 156.
CMA, December 28, 1971 - February 6, 1972: "Year in Review 1971," CMA Bulletin 59 (January 1972), p. 44, no. 112.
Cleveland, The Kenneth C. Beck Center for the Cultural Arts, 1979: "Selection of Photograph from the Cleveland Museum of Art."
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PROVENANCE
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RELATED WORKS
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CITATIONS
John William Cook Entry Card to 1971 May Show. Cleveland Museum of Art May Show Records, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives.
page number:
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAMS14190
Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.
page number: Reproduced: P. 129
url:
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IMAGES