On View
Not on viewObject number1960/1.125
Rocks (Martha's Vineyard)
Artist
Aaron Siskind
(American, 1903-1991)
Date1954
Mediumgelatin silver print
Dimensionsmat: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)
mount: 16 1/4 × 13 3/16 in. (41.3 × 33.5 cm)
image (flush): 16 1/4 × 13 3/16 in. (41.3 × 33.5 cm)
mount: 16 1/4 × 13 3/16 in. (41.3 × 33.5 cm)
image (flush): 16 1/4 × 13 3/16 in. (41.3 × 33.5 cm)
Credit LineDirector's Fund
Exhibition History"Three Photographers: an exhibition presented by the Kalamazoo Art Center," KIA (Feb. 5 - Mar. 3, 1961).
"Kalamazoo Collects Photography," KIA (Mar. 1980).
"Master Photographs from the Permanent Collection," KIA (Sept. 7 - Oct. 24, 1993).
"Round and Round," KIA, Ethel Denton Groos Gallery, November 6, 2017 - March 4, 2018Label TextImmersed in the aesthetic of Abstract Expressionism, Siskind used his camera to similarly emphasize texture and the graphic qualities of flat forms and rhythmic lines. He was one of the first photographers to create images that were both realistic and abstract. He often achieved this through closely-cropped views that eliminated visual context.
Siskind began to photograph objects at close range in the early 1940s. Like his Expressionist friend, Franz Kline, Siskind sought to compose images that reflected his emotional state. Teaching at the Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT) Institute of Design, Siskind influenced a new generation of photographers, including Alan Cohen.
