Over the Course of 40 Years, Three Famed Street Photographers Captured the Quiet Desolation of American Life—See Their Work Here
While museums around the globe
are closed to the public, we are spotlighting each day an inspiring
exhibition that was previously on view. Even if you can’t see it in
person, allow us to give you a virtual look.
“Outside Looking In: John Gutmann, Helen Levitt, and
Wright Morris“
Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University
What the museum says: “This exhibition
presents work by three American photographers in the Capital Group
Foundation Photography Collection at Stanford University who used
the camera to observe the public lives and, occasionally, the
private spaces of others.
German-born John Gutmann (1905–1998) settled in the Bay Area in
1933 and documented the spectrum of American society with an eye
for the absurd, sensational, and grotesque. Author and artist
Wright Morris (1910–1998) created a photographic portrait of his
relations and their hard-scrabble, rural way of life by depicting
their belongings, interiors, and the harshly beautiful Nebraska
landscape. On the East Coast, Brooklyn-born Helen Levitt
(1913–2009), one of the great street photographers of the 20th
century, captured the everyday drama played out on the stoops and
streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side and Spanish Harlem.”
Why it’s worth a look: In the photographs
assembled for this show we’re able to see a historic diary of the
lives of a broad cross-section of people. As pioneers of “street
photography,” these three artists were attempting to be invisible,
snapping moments of life lived before their eyes, not actively
interrupting or engaging with the scenes that captivated them. The
result is a panoply of intimate moments.
What it looks like:
Installation view of “Outside Looking
In: John Gutmann, Helen Levitt, and Wright Morris” at Cantor Arts
Center, Stanford University.
John Gutmann, Self-Portrait, San
Francisco, (1934). © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona
Board of Regents.
John Gutmann, Before Pearl Harbor,
ROTC at Mission High School, San Francisco, (1938). © Center
for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents.
John Gutmann, The Beautiful
Clown, (1940). © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board
of Regents.
Installation view of “Outside Looking
In: John Gutmann, Helen Levitt, and Wright Morris” at Cantor Arts
Center, Stanford University.
Wright Morris, Reflection in Oval
Mirror, (1947). © Estate of Wright Morris, Courtesy of the
Center for Creative Photography.
Wright Morris, Eggs in Pot,
(1947). © Estate of Wright Morris, Courtesy of the Center for
Creative Photography.
Wright Morris, Clothes on Hooks,
(1947). © Estate of Wright Morris, Courtesy of the Center for
Creative Photography.
Wright Morris, House in Winter, Near
Lincoln, Nebraska, (1941). Gelatin silver print. © Estate of
Wright Morris, Courtesy of the Center for Creative Photography.
Helen Levitt, New York, (ca.
1940). © Helen Levitt Film Documents LLC. All rights reserved.
Helen Levitt, New York, (ca.
1940). © Helen Levitt Film Documents LLC. All rights reserved.
Installation view of “Outside Looking
In: John Gutmann, Helen Levitt, and Wright Morris” at Cantor Arts
Center, Stanford University.
Helen Levitt , New York, (1970).
© Helen Levitt Film Documents LLC. All rights reserved.
Helen Levitt, New York, (1972). ©
Helen Levitt Film Documents LLC. All rights reserved.
The post Over the Course of 40 Years, Three Famed Street
Photographers Captured the Quiet Desolation of American Life—See
Their Work Here appeared first on artnet News.
Read more https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/show-of-the-day-outside-looking-in-at-cantor-arts-center-1839756
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