Route 6, Massachusetts
Artist
Michael A. Smith
(American, b. 1942)
CultureAmerican
Date1974
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 7 11/16 × 9 5/8 in. (19.5 × 24.4 cm)
Overall, Support: 13 × 15 in. (33 × 38.1 cm)
Overall, Support: 13 × 15 in. (33 × 38.1 cm)
Inscribed(7411-04 #2) Signed and dated in graphite on mount; titled, dated and numbered in graphite on the reverse of mount.
Credit LineGift of Richard and Elena Pollack
Object number2005.36.3
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a vintage gelatin silver print of a small strip of grass in front of a wall of trees and foliage.Label Texttop Michael A. Smith American, b. 1942 Route 6, Massachusetts, 1974 Gelatin silver print (photograph) Gift of Richard and Elena Pollack 2005.36.3 bottom Robert Adams American, born 1937 Bulldozed Slash, Tillamook County, Oregon, 1977 Gelatin silver print (photograph) Gift of Joyce F. and Robert B. Menschel 2007.12.10 An entirely new kind of landscape emerged in 20th-century America, the result of rapid suburbanization and industrial growth and decline. A young generation of photographers began documenting this human-altered landscape, producing deliberately deadpan views of industrial parks, sprawling suburbs, and littered roadways. Neither overly critical nor entirely indifferent, these photographers rejected scenes of majestic nature for “topographic” views that take after 19th-century survey photographs. Above, Michael Smith focuses on a thicket cropped to the edge of a roadway, suggesting the delicate balance between nature and civilization. Below, Robert Adams confronts the viewer with a dense jungle of trunks and branches, evoking the sense of confusion when seeking to control nature. ProvenanceRichard and Elena Pollack, Scarsdale, NY [through photography collector Michael Mattis]; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Gift of Richard and Elena Pollack, 2005. Exhibition History"New Light on Land: Photographs from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, January 28 - May 15, 2016.
