Figure, ground #027

Artist Bill Jacobson (American, born 1955)

Date2016

MediumInkjet print

DimensionsImage: 45 1/8 × 36 5/8 inches (114.62 × 93.03 cm)
Sheet: 51 1/2 × 43 inches (130.81 × 109.22 cm)
Mount: 51 1/2 × 43 inches (130.81 × 109.22 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2017.68.120

SignedSigned on mount verso, lower left, in black marker: "bill jacobson"

InscribedTitled, dated, and editioned on mount verso, lower left, in black marker: "figure, ground #27 / 2016 / 2/4"

Markingsnone

Edition/State/Proofed. 2/4

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a figure with light brown hair gathered at the nape of her neck. She is wearing a white shirt with dark pants. She faces away from the camera and looks towards a green landscape that becomes increasingly out of focus as it recedes.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Rotation 27. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, August 23, 2019–February 2, 2020, no cat.

Gallery Label

In landscape painting of the 1800s, artists often included a figure in the foreground with their back turned. This figure was an implicit invitation to the viewer to join in and look. With a nod to this tradition, Bill Jacobson photographs people gazing toward a distant landscape that becomes increasingly blurry as it recedes. Facing outward, the subject is caught in an introspective moment, looking inward.

Provenance

Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2017;
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2017.

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