Cape Cod

Date1974

Credit LineGift of Joe B. Massey in honor of Margaret Shufeldt

Dimensions12 1/4 x 12 7/8 in. (31.1 x 32.7 cm)

Object number2006.004.001

Label TextFor Callahan photography was not a career, but rather a vocation -- literally a calling -- through which he could understand his own life and the world around him. An encounter with Ansel Adams in 1941 was fundamental in shaping Callahan's own approach to making photographs. His work is characterized by its clarity, simplicity of composition, and technical precision. His dedicated exploration of the limits of the medium led Callahan to return again and again to certain subjects throughout his life. One of these persistent themes appears in the numerous serene portraits of his wife Eleanor. Another theme is the "water's edge," as it was called in a 1980 exhibition. Whether in 1938 at a vacation cottage on Lake Huron, or later on Lake Michigan in Chicago in the 1940s, or at the beaches of New England in the 1960s and 1970s, Callahan was perpetually fascinated by the abstract designs offered by nature where water meets the shore.
Exhibition HistoryArtists in Georgia: Contemporary Works from the Collection, Michael C. Carlos Museum, February 6 - May 16, 2010

ProvenanceColl. Joe B. Massey, United States, probably purchased from Jackson Fine Art, Atlanta, Georgia.

MarkingsInscribed on verso "V gsp" and "WE 45, F 39" at lower right and upper left, respectively.

Status

Not on view

Collections