id: 156970 accession number: 1993.129 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1993.129 updated: 2023-03-14 12:01:50.693000 Grasses, Wisconsin, 1959. Harry Callahan (American, 1912–1999). Vintage gelatin silver print; image: 11.1 x 16.8 cm (4 3/8 x 6 5/8 in.); matted: 30.6 x 35.6 cm (12 1/16 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Friends of Photography in honor of Evan H. Turner 1993.129 © Harry Callahan, courtesy PaceWildensteinMacGill, New York title: Grasses, Wisconsin title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1959 creation date earliest: 1959 creation date latest: 1959 current location: creditline: Gift of Friends of Photography in honor of Evan H. Turner copyright: © Harry Callahan, courtesy PaceWildensteinMacGill, New York --- culture: America, 20th century technique: Vintage gelatin silver print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Harry Callahan (American, 1912–1999) - artist Harry Callahan American, 1912-1999 Detroit native Harry Morey Callahan is recognized as one of the most influential American photographers and teachers of the second half of the 20th century. A self-taught photographer, he became interested in the medium in the late 1930s while working in the accounting department at Chrysler Corporation. He joined the Detroit Photo Guild and in 1941 was greatly inspired by Ansel Adams, who was invited to give a workshop and lecture at the guild. In 1944 Callahan took a job with the General Motors Photographic Laboratory and two years later began teaching photography at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, in Chicago. He headed the institute's department of photography from 1949-61, then left to establish the photography department at the Rhode Island School of Design. Callahan served as head of the photography program at Rhode Island until 1973 and continued teaching there until his retirement in 1977. Interested in photography as a means of self-expression, Callahan's subjects have ranged from an ongoing series of his wife, Eleanor, to landscapes, seascapes, nature studies, and street scenes. He has also experimented with high-contrast images as well as double exposures, and since his retirement has focused on color work. Among his awards are fellowships from the Graham Foundation (1956) and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1972). His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including one-artist shows at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1976), the Center for Creative Photography, Tucson (1984), and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1996). Callahan lives in Atlanta. M.M. --- measurements: Image: 11.1 x 16.8 cm (4 3/8 x 6 5/8 in.); Matted: 30.6 x 35.6 cm (12 1/16 x 14 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in pencil on verso: "phot. H. Callahan / Grasses, Wisconsin, 1959 / $150 / HC 13311"; typed on label: "LL 667-355 / Harry Callahan" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2006-06-09T00:00:00 The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (MOCA), Cleveland, OH (June 9-August 20, 2006). title: Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2007-06-24T00:00:00 Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 24-September 16, 2007). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * "1992 Annual Report," CMA Bulletin, 80 (July 1993), repr. p. 273.
CMA, September 13 - November 27, 1994: "Recent Acquisitions: Prints, Drawings, Photographs," no exhibition catalogue.
MOCA Cleveland (6/9/2006 - 8/20/2006): "The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art", no. 98, p. 121, repr. p. 91.
The Cleveland Museum of Art (6/24/07 - 9/16/07); "Icons of American Photography: A Century of Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art", no exhibition catalogue. --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: In this detail of undulating grasses in Wisconsin, Callahan demonstrated his vigorous interest in formal design and his sensitivity toward the world around him, making the artist one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. This compelling abstract composition is filled with arching, bending, and swaying slivers of form, made distinguishable from the dark ground by bright sunlight. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS "1992 Annual Report." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 6 (1993): 215-95. page number: Reproduced: p. 273 url: https://www.jstor.org/stable/25161418 Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. page number: Reproduced: P. 117 url: Sims, Lowery Stokes. The Persistence of Geometry: Form, Content, and Culture in the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2006. page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 90-91, no. 98 url: --- IMAGES