Eleanor
Artist
Harry Callahan
(American, 1912-1999)
CultureAmerican
Date1947
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 4 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (11.4 × 7 cm)
Overall, Support: 4 7/8 × 7 15/16 in. (12.4 × 20.2 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 1/16 × 20 1/16 in. (40.8 × 51 cm)
Overall, Support: 4 7/8 × 7 15/16 in. (12.4 × 20.2 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 1/16 × 20 1/16 in. (40.8 × 51 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Menschel
Object number86.319
Not on view
Label TextHarry Callahan
American, 1912–1999
left
Eleanor, 1947
Gelatin silver print (photograph)
Museum purchase 82.106
clockwise from top
Eleanor, 1953
Eleanor, 1947
Eleanor, 1949
Gelatin silver prints (photographs)
Gifts of Mr. and Mrs. Robert B. Menschel 87.433, 86.319, 86.318
Harry Callahan made photographs of his wife, Eleanor, for more than 50 years. From intimate portraits to abstract silhouettes layered over the landscape, Eleanor’s image was the constant in Callahan’s creative explorations. The couple met in 1933 when they were both working for Chrysler Motors in Detroit, and Callahan took up photography when he joined the company’s camera club. After a workshop with Ansel Adams in 1941, Callahan devoted himself to photography, eventually joining the artistic avant-garde in Chicago. Eleanor remained a primary focus of Callahan’s work, and seen as a group the images may suggest the passage of time. Callahan, however, rejected the idea that his works were in any way documentary.
