Three Seated Women with Arms Crossed, Striped Background
Artist
Mike Disfarmer
(American, 1884 - 1959)
CultureAmerican
Dateca. 1940
MediumGelatin silver contact print
Dimensions3 × 4 1/2 in. (7.6 × 11.4 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number2022.22.2
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a photographic print featuring three seated women against a striped background. They are posed side by side, all with their arms crossed in front of them. They are dressed in vintage (c. 1940), polka-dot and lace-patterned dresses, and each woman wears earrings, a necklace, and a brooch. The woman on the left looks at the camera; the other two subjects look in opposite directions. The woman on the right has a handkerchief on her lap. The photograph has a landscape orientation and a white border.Label TextMike Disfarmer American, 1884–1959 Three Seated Women with Arms Crossed, Striped Background, ca. 1940 Gelatin silver contact print It seems unlikely that these three women, whose connection to one another is unclear, sat down and folded their arms in such a uniform way. Disfarmer probably choreographed this pose by instructing the women to cross their arms. What Disfarmer could not control was the various directions of their gazes, which could indicate a resistance to following the photographer’s instructions. Why do two of these women avoid the eye of the camera? Museum purchase 2022.22.2ProvenanceMichael Mattis to CMAExhibition History"Facing Ourselves: Mike Disfarmer and the American Portrait," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, December 16, 2022 - May 14, 2023.Published ReferencesThree seated women with arms crossed, striped background published in Disfarmer: The Vintage Prints (New York: Powerhouse Books, 2006),151.
