RCA Speakers
In a single voice, the assembled speakers broadcast the scope and influence of American radio. Commissioned by audio manufacturer RCA Victor, this photograph is one component of a monumental photomural for the NBC rotunda at Rockefeller Center. Amplified to a height of ten feet, this and other views of radio technology comprised a work of corporate propaganda to rival those public projects Margaret Bourke-White had recently seen on tours of the Soviet Union. She completed the mural at breakneck speed, often working through the night to photograph equipment at regional stations (lest she risk electrocution during daytime transmission hours). Seeking a visual analogue to audio, she captured the speakers in staccato sequence, their scalloped shapes reverberating beyond the frame.
Artwork Details
- Title: RCA Speakers
- Artist: Margaret Bourke-White (American, Bronx, New York 1904–1971 Darien, Connecticut)
- Date: 1933, printed ca. 1940
- Medium: Gelatin silver print
- Dimensions: 33.3 x 23.3 cm (13 1/8 x 9 3/16 in.)
Frame: 22 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Warner Communications Inc. Purchase Fund, 1976
- Object Number: 1976.634.1
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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