From the Viaduct, New York

1916

Not on view

Returned to lender

This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.

What to make of this strange and unexpected photograph by Paul Strand from 1916, the earliest work in the exhibition? It looks more like a Robert Rauschenberg Combine or collage from the 1950s or 1960s than an American work of art in any medium from the 1910s. Nearly twice the size of most photographs by Strand’s contemporaries and composed of velvety black tones and bright white highlights, it arrests the eye. Strand’s mentor and gallerist, Alfred Stieglitz, reproduced the photograph in the final issue of his deluxe quarterly, Camera　Work, in June 1917. There, he described his protégé’s work as "brutal" three times in one short paragraph.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: From the Viaduct, New York
Artist: Paul Strand (American, New York 1890–1976 Orgeval, France)
Date: 1916
Medium: Platinum print
Dimensions: Image: 13 3/16 × 9 1/4 in. (33.5 × 23.5 cm)
Framed: 25 × 20 in. (63.5 × 50.8 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Promised Gift of Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary
Curatorial Department: Photographs