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Ralph Eugene MeatyardUntitled (Boy with Flag) [Christopher and the Rebuilding of America]1959/1974
1959/1974
About the Item
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71)
Printed April 1974
Edition of 130
Credit stamp, verso
6.75 x 6.75 inches, image
15 x 12 inches, mount
This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City.
“This photograph is found in the portrait section of the Time-Life publication "Photographing Children" (1971) and is described as a ‘direct view’. It is anything but. The ‘Rebuilding’ of the title may refer either to the continuing reconstruction of the post-Civil War South or to the current turmoil of integration in that region. The expensive Arcadian wallpaper of this decrepit mansion no doubt signifies the aristocratic, ruined Confederacy. The damaged doll perhaps symbolizes the previous tenants who were forced to rejoin the Union (or, in this case, to form a union with the boy who stands in for the North). The boy possibly also signifies America’s youth or, given Meatyard’s cynicism, its ignorance.”
—Judith Keller, Ralph Eugene Meatyard (London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002), pp. 38-39
An optician by trade, Ralph Eugene Meatyard was a self-described “dedicated amateur” photographer. He pursued his own vision to produce an exquisitely enigmatic, widely admired body of work. Meatyard began taking photographs in 1950, roaming the backwoods and towns in Kentucky, experimenting with framing, multiple exposures, and blurring to produce haunting, abstracted images of natural and manmade environments. In the late 1950s, he began incorporating monstrous, oversized latex masks and hands into his photographs, in addition to plastic dolls. His family and friends were the protagonists in his carefully composed scenes. For Meatyard, who was inspired by literature, Zen Buddhism, and jazz, the masks served to equalize his subjects and shift focus elsewhere—to the poignant juxtaposition of otherworldly faces on human bodies, to the ambiguous and unknowable in human nature.
- Creator:Ralph Eugene Meatyard (1925 - 1972, American)
- Creation Year:1959/1974
- Dimensions:Height: 15 in (38.1 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU93233009651
About the Seller
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- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
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