Leda in the Shadows

Artist Clarence John Laughlin (American, 1905-1985)

CultureAmerican

Date1940

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 13 5/8 × 10 1/2 in. (34.6 × 26.7 cm)
Overall, Paper: 16 15/16 × 14 in. (43 × 35.6 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 20 in. (61 × 50.8 cm)

InscribedSigned on mat below photograph

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number79.253B

Not on view

DescriptionThis is a gelatin silver print photograph.

Label TextClarence John Laughlin American (1905-1985) Leda in the Shadows, 1940 Gelatin-silver print Museum Purchase 79.253 b Clarence John Laughlin - "The Baudelaire of the Bayous" - is considered the foremost American exponent of the 1930s French Surrealist movement. Laughlin lived in New Orleans for 75 years, and his portraits, abstractions, still lifes, architectural work, and multiple-exposure allegories reflect a deep engagement with the romantic mysticism of the area. In the 1940s he made photographs for the U.S. Engineer Corps, the Army Signal Corps, and Vogue magazine. His book of decaying plantation homes, Ghosts Along the Mississippi, was published in 1948. His 1973 monograph Clarence John Laughlin: The Personal Eye contained an overview of his photography as well as his prodigious writing illuminating his work. In that book Laughlin said: "This is one of the early pictures in the group of Surrealist photographs I began in 1939, and which I now call 'Poems of the Inner World.' The early part of the Surrealist group deals symbolically with some sexual aspects of our society - the conditions and factors which helped to predispose us to frustration and war. In this picture, the shadow pattern of the passion flower design seems to be projected from within the girl's body - rather than merely existing on the wall. While her arm makes a form suggestive of the head and neck of a swan - which, of course, refers to the ancient legend of Leda and the Swan - it becomes an image of the baffled desire to be possessed." Two of Laughlin's photographs are included in the collection. He had a solo exhibition of his work at the Chrysler in 1979. Edited By: GLY Edited Date: 11/07/2003Exhibition History"A History of Photography: 15 Years at the Chrysler Museum," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA; September 11, 1993-March 6, 1994. "Photographs from the Chrysler Museum," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, February 26-April 23, 1989 "Silver Images: The Photography Collection at 25," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., November 5, 2003 - August 2004.