{
"data": {
"id": 157437,
"accession_number": "1994.289",
"share_license_status": "Copyrighted",
"tombstone": "A Devastated Gun Tower near Quang Tri, Vietnam, 1984. Leo Rubinfien (American, b. 1953). Chromogenic process color print (printed 1993); image: 49 x 59.5 cm (19 5/16 x 23 7/16 in.); paper: 49.2 x 60.3 cm (19 3/8 x 23 3/4 in.); matted: 71.1 x 81.3 cm (28 x 32 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Cynthia N. Mayer in memory of Estelle Johnson, 1994.289",
"current_location": null,
"title": "A Devastated Gun Tower near Quang Tri, Vietnam",
"creation_date": "1984",
"creation_date_earliest": 1984,
"creation_date_latest": 1984,
"artists_tags": [
"male"
],
"culture": [
"America"
],
"technique": "chromogenic process color print (printed 1993)",
"support_materials": [],
"department": "Photography",
"collection": "PH - American 1951-Present",
"type": "Photograph",
"measurements": "Image: 49 x 59.5 cm (19 5/16 x 23 7/16 in.); Paper: 49.2 x 60.3 cm (19 3/8 x 23 3/4 in.); Matted: 71.1 x 81.3 cm (28 x 32 in.)",
"dimensions": {
"image": {
"height": 0.49,
"height_inch": 19,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.3125,
"width": 0.595,
"width_inch": 23,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.4375
},
"paper": {
"height": 0.492,
"height_inch": 19,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.375,
"width": 0.603,
"width_inch": 23,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.75
},
"matted": {
"height": 0.711,
"height_inch": 28,
"height_inch_fraction": 0.0,
"width": 0.813,
"width_inch": 32,
"width_inch_fraction": 0.0
}
},
"state_of_the_work": null,
"edition_of_the_work": null,
"copyright": null,
"inscriptions": [
{
"inscription": "Written in black ink on verso: \"Leo Rubinfien [signed]. A Devastated Gun Tower Near Quang Tri, Vietnam, 1984\"",
"inscription_translation": null,
"inscription_remark": null,
"sortorder": null
}
],
"exhibitions": {
"current": [
{
"id": 311875,
"title": "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art",
"description": "Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 24, 1996-February 2, 1997).",
"opening_date": "1996-11-24T05:00:00"
},
{
"id": 185410,
"title": "Human Intervention: Contemporary Landscape Photography",
"description": "Human Intervention: Contemporary Landscape Photography. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 26-October 10, 2001).",
"opening_date": "2001-05-26T00:00:00"
}
],
"legacy": [
{
"description": "Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; May 26-October 10, 2001. Human Intervention: Contemporary Landscape Photography.",
"opening_date": "2001-05-26T00:00:00"
},
{
"description": "CMA, November 20,1996 - February 2, 1997: \"Legacy of Light: Master Photographs from the Cleveland Museum of Art.\"",
"opening_date": "1997-02-02T00:00:00"
}
]
},
"provenance": [],
"find_spot": null,
"related_works": [],
"former_accession_numbers": [],
"did_you_know": null,
"early_education_description": null,
"artlens_description": null,
"description": "Between 1979 and 1988, Leo Rubinfien, an American who lived in Japan during his youth, created a body of color photographs that resulted from his extensive travels in Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. With a sensitive and inquisitive eye, he recorded the ways that these deeply traditional Asian cultures were adapting to a global economy. Firmly rooted in the documentary tradition, this striking image suggests Vietnam's recent history. The bomb-scarred foreground and partially destroyed gun tower serve as reminders of political struggle, poignantly contrasted with the surrounding, richly fertile farmland.",
"external_resources": {
"wikidata": [
"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79973707"
],
"internet_archive": []
},
"citations": [
{
"citation": "Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996.",
"page_number": "Reproduced: P. 309",
"url": ""
}
],
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1994.289",
"images": {},
"alternate_images": [],
"creditline": "Gift of Cynthia N. Mayer in memory of Estelle Johnson",
"image_credit": null,
"sketchfab_id": null,
"sketchfab_url": null,
"gallery_donor_text": null,
"athena_id": 157437,
"creators": [
{
"id": 844,
"description": "Leo Rubinfien (American, b. 1953)",
"extent": null,
"qualifier": null,
"role": "artist",
"biography": "Leo Rubinfien American, 1953- Leo Rubinfien is an art critic, photographer, filmmaker, and educator. A student of philosophy and literature at Reed College in Oregon, Rubinfien went on to study photography at the California Institute of the Arts (B.F.A, 1974) and Yale University (1976). He then worked for two years as a critic, contributing more than 125 articles, essays, and reviews to major periodicals, including Artforum, Art in America, and the Village Voice. From 1980-88 Rubinfien made an extensive series of color photographs that concentrated on Asian subjects from Burma, Japan, India, Thailand, and Indonesia. The series was shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (1992), the Seibu Art Forum, Tokyo (1993), the Cleveland Museum of Art (1994), and the Seattle Art Museum (1995) and was published in 1992 as A Map of the East. Rubinfien (born in Chicago) has won several awards, including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1983, 1992) and the Asian Cultural Council (1984). He also has had some success as a filmmaker. The Money Juggler (1988) was screened at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, as part of its New Directors, New Films festival (1989) and was included in the American Film Institute/Los Angeles International Film Festival (1989). Rubinfien lives in Croton-on-Hudson, New York. A.W.",
"name_in_original_language": null,
"birth_year": "1953",
"use_in_caption": true,
"include_extent": false,
"weight": 1
}
],
"legal_status": "accessioned",
"accession_date": "1995-03-06T00:00:00",
"sortable_date": 1984,
"date_added_to_oa": null,
"date_text": "1984",
"collapse_artists": false,
"on_loan": false,
"recently_acquired": false,
"record_type": "object",
"conservation_statement": null,
"has_conservation_images": false,
"cover_accession_number": null,
"is_nazi_era_provenance": false,
"impression": "1",
"alternate_titles": [],
"is_highlight": false,
"updated_at": "2026-05-01 06:51:48.669000"
}
}