Some
recent rotations of work in the American Art galleries seem particularly timely,
if not in the seasonal sense. From the inaugural display of our first-ever
Alexander Gardner Civil War photograph to the reappearance of three iconic Paul
Strand urban images, this new showing of photography calls to mind not only the
final week of the local filming of the “Lincoln” epic (desperately seeking
DDL!) but also a new exhibition at New York’s Jewish Museum on the Photo
League, an important 20th-century group of photographers who promoted
social and political change through their art (Strand was a founding member).
This
rare albumen print from the 1865 edition of Gardner’s
Photographic Sketch Book captures Abraham
Lincoln’s 1862 visit with George McClellan at Antietam and the palpable
animosity that existed between them. After the bloody devastation of the
Maryland battle (famously captured by Gardner’s camera), the president was
dismayed with his general’s hesitation to pursue the Confederates into
Virginia. The notable tension of the scene, with the two men in a somewhat
confrontational pose, goes beyond the inherently static characteristic of the medium.
One month later, Lincoln relieved McClellan of his command. And we know what
happened to George Custer (cockily posing at far right) later on!
This
haunting 1917 photogravure, Man,
Five Points Square, New York,
also marks a moment in time and reveals what made Strand a leading early-20th-century
photographer and filmmaker. Going beyond mere documentation to expose the
lonely desperation of America’s urban poor, Strand sensitively wielded the
camera as a reformist tool.
Other
new acquisitions and loans (paintings and works on paper) can be found in the
18th- and 19th-century American galleries. Come see for
yourself over the holidays.
-Sylvia Yount, Chief Curator and Cochrane Curator of
American Art
