New York

Artist Helen Levitt (American, 1913 - 2009)

Dateca. 1938

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage and sheet: 7 1/8 × 9 3/16 inches (18.1 × 23.34 cm)
Mount: 9 3/8 × 10 5/16 inches (23.81 × 26.19 cm)

Credit LineGift of Hallmark Cards, Inc.

Object number2005.27.1787

SignedOn mount verso, center, in pencil: "Helen Levitt / c. 1938"; On mount verso, lower right, in pencil: "Helen Levitt".

InscribedOn mount verso, lower right, in pencil: "N.Y."

MarkingsOn mount verso, upper left, in pencil: "OK"; On mount verso, upper right, in pencil: "V4", "1/ 2/2".

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of three children wearing masks across their eyes and standing on the stairs in front of a doorway.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Hide & Seek: Picturing Childhood. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, September 26, 2009 – February 21, 2010, no cat.

Gallery Label

Helen Levitt was entranced by the children she encountered in the working-class neighborhoods of her native New York City, and she photographed their imaginative play in lyrical, dynamic compositions. Levitt worked spontaneously, without preconceived ideas. As she noted: "I never had a ‘project.’ I would go out and shoot, see with my eyes… I tried to capture with my camera, for others to see.

Provenance

Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kansas City, MO, 1999;
Given by Hallmark Cards, Inc. to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2005.

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