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Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

American, 1925-1972

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.

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Artist: Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Untitled (Boy Making Gesture) [Michael and Christopher]
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 7 x 7 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, mount This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “In the 1950s few photographers, particularly men, chose their models from their own families. Meatyard, however, found inspiration in his three offspring. This was perhaps due to his interest in Ben Shahn’s postwar paintings of Italian children playing among the ruins of war; the dolls, puppets, and children in Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Untitled (Boy with Flag) [Christopher and the Rebuilding of America]
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
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...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Lucybelle Crater and her 15 year old son's friend
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 7 x 7 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, mou...
Category

1970s American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Cranston Richie
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 7 x 7 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, mount This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “This image probably owes some of its inspiration to the abnormal characters in the stories of Flannery O’Connor’s 1955 collection, "A Good Man is Hard to Find." But Meatyard was also looking at Giorgio de Chirico and the European Surrealists and here employs their penchant for the lifeless mannequin figure. A headless dressmaker’s dummy...
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Late 20th Century American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Madonna
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 6.5 x 7 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, m...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Untitled (Guy Mendes) [Boy Dressed as Airplane Pilot]
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
Vintage gelatin silver print Signed in black ink, recto Credit stamped and numbered, verso of mount This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. An optician by ...
Category

1970s American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Romance of Ambrose Bierce #3 [Romance (N.) from Ambrose Bierce #3]
By Ralph Eugene Meatyard
Located in New York, NY
From a portfolio of ten gelatin silver prints from original Meatyard negatives (1959-71) Printed April 1974 Edition of 130 Credit stamp, verso 7 x 7.5 inches, image 15 x 12 inches, mount This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Meatyard took his definition of romance from The Devil’s Dictionary (1911) compiled by American writer Ambrose Bierce from the satirical pieces he published weekly in the late nineteenth century. The American grotesque of Bierce’s tall tales is here combined with Meatyard’s Surrealist inclinations and the European, particularly French, interest in primitive masks, perhaps with the intention of creating a parody of high art. Rather than sports fans, the stadium benches...
Category

Late 20th Century American Modern Ralph Eugene Meatyard Portrait Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

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Ralph Eugene Meatyard portrait photography for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Ralph Eugene Meatyard portrait photography available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Ralph Eugene Meatyard in silver gelatin print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Ralph Eugene Meatyard portrait photography, so small editions measuring 8 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Alan Herr, Lillian Bassman, and Danny Lyon. Ralph Eugene Meatyard portrait photography prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,800 and tops out at $7,000, while the average work can sell for $5,250.

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