Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2008.

Martha Graham, Letter to the World (Kick)

Artist Barbara Morgan (American, 1900-1992)

CultureAmerican

Date1940, printed 1970's?

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 15 1/8 × 19 3/8 in. (38.4 × 49.2 cm)
Overall: 16 × 19 13/16 in. (40.6 × 50.3 cm)
Overall, Mat: 24 × 27 15/16 in. (61 × 71 cm)

InscribedSigned in ink on the reverse: "Martha Graham - Letter to the World - 1940 Barbara Morgan"

Credit LineGift of Lloyd and Janet Morgan

Object number2007.22.1

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis gelatin silver print is of a woman dancing. She is wearing a long gown and her body is leaning forward. Her leg is extended behind her and she has her hand up to her forehead.

Label TextBarbara Morgan American (1900-1992) Martha Graham: Letter to the World (Kick), 1940, printed 1970s? Gelatin-silver print Gift of Lloyd and Janet Morgan 2007.22.1 Shot in 1940, Barbara Morgan's Letter to the World (Kick) has become the most widely published image of dancer Martha Graham. The movement is from Graham's dramatic ballet "Letter to the World," based on a poem by Emily Dickinson. Set in the shadow world of Dickinson's imagination, the ballet presents the story of the poet's romantic life through a series of characters moving from childhood to womanhood. To seize Graham's rapid dance motions, Morgan and four lamp-bearing assistants timed their flashes to the 1/600th-of-a-second speed of Morgan's camera shutter. The process blurred the studio floor and background, creating the shadowy setting appropriate to the story and highlighting the dancer's figure. Despite the seeming effortlessness of the final image, Graham had to execute the elaborate kick sequence repeatedly until Morgan was able to capture the gesture on film. ProvenanceLloyd and Janet Morgan [managers of the Barbara Morgan archive], Hastings-on-Hudson, New York; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, Gift of Lloyd and Janet Morgan, 2008 Exhibition History"Barbara Morgan Photographs," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, November 1985 - January 1986. A print of this photograph "Martha Graham Dance Photographs by Barbara Morgan," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, April 29 - August 28, 2005. A print of this photograph 'Recent Photography Acquistions," Alice R. and Frank B. Sol Photography Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, December 12, 2008. "Women of the Chrysler: a 400-Year Celebration of the Arts," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., March 24 - July 18, 2010. Published ReferencesIntro by Peter Bunnell, _Barbara Morgan_ (Hastings-on-Hudson: Morgan & Morgan, 1972) A print of this photograph Barbara Morgan, _Martha Graham: Sixteen Dances in Photographs_ (New York: Morgan & Morgan, Inc.; 1st rev.ed. edition, 1980) ISBN: 978-0871001764 A print of this photograph