Untitled (Cactus)

Artist Richard Misrach (American, born 1949)

Date1977

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 14 3/4 x 14 1/2 inches (37.47 x 36.83 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.4271

InscribedSignature Signed in artist's hand Back of Print Notations "plate 55" Back of Print

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of cactus amid a desert landscape at night. A small light shines in from the left but most of the landscape is in dark.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Night Light: a Survey of 20^th Century Night Photography, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, January 15 - February 12, 1989, The Fine Arts Center/Creekwood, Nashville, TN, February 26 - April 2, 1989, Evansville Museum of Arts and Science, Evansville, IN, April 23 - June 11, 1989, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS, August 6 - September 24, 1989, Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts, Roanoke, VA, February 18 - April 1, 1990, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, Lincoln, NE, April 29 - June 10, 1990, Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, Danville, VA, July 8 - August 26, 1990, The Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame, IN, September 23 - November 4, 1990, Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT, December 1, 1990 – January 20, 1991, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego, CA, February 12 - April 7, 1991.

Night Light: a Survey of 20^th Century Night Photography. Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland, November 5, 1991- January 12, 1992, no cat.

Night Light: a Survey of 20^th Century Night Photography. Missouri Western State College, October 5 - October 26, 1992, no cat.

Night Light: a Survey of 20^th Century Night Photography, Stephens College, Columbia, MO, January 18 - February 26, 1993, no cat.

Heavens: Photographs of the Sky & Cosmos. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, June 11 - November 13, 2011, no cat.

Gallery Label

The spindly tentacles of a desert cactus appear ghostly and skeletal against a night sky. To make this image, Richard Misrach combined a lengthy exposure with the selective use of a handheld flash. This technique illuminates the foreground, leaving the rest of the scene enveloped in ominous shadows.

Provenance

Paul Hertzmann, Inc., San Francisco, CA;
Purchased from Paul M. Hertzmann, Inc. by Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1996;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2005.

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