Artist
Sally Mann American, born 1951
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Deep South, Untitled (Scarred Tree)
Date1998, printed 1999
MediumGelatin silver print with toning
DimensionsAt opening: 37 3/16 × 46 7/8 in. (94.5 × 119 cm)
Frame: 43 1/8 × 52 15/16 × 1 3/16 in. (109.5 × 134.5 × 3 cm)
Frame: 43 1/8 × 52 15/16 × 1 3/16 in. (109.5 × 134.5 × 3 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund
Object number2019.285
Non exposé
Explore Further
Department
PhotographyObject Type
In the 1990s, Sally Mann sought metaphors for history and memory in the Southern landscape. Portraying this tree as a silent witness to a violent history, she focuses directly on the dark gash across its trunk—a traumatic wound that has healed but remains visible—and on the lines of woodpecker holes that pepper it like a spray of bullets. The photograph also reveals Mann’s knowledge, admiration, and emulation of 19th-century photography, manifested in her adoption of the early “wet collodion” process of making negatives and her toning of prints with tea to add a patina and tonal softness.
ProvenanceThe artist, Lexington, Virginia; [Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York]; Private collection, Rhode Island; [Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[signed, dated and numbered 10/10 on verso]
Printed in black on applied label, verso, lower left frame backing: EDWYNN HOUK GALLERY // Sally Mann (American, b. 1951) // UNTITLED, 1998 // Gelatin silver enlargement print, 37 ¼ by 47 // inches, toned with tea. Printed by the photo- // grapher from the original negative in 1999, and // mounted to archival 4-ply rag board. Print No. // 10 from a limited edition of 10. Signed, titled, // dated and editioned, in pencil on the verso. 3” // face frame with front bevel, antique black painted // finish, archival spacer, and non-reflective // Water White Denglas. (Deep South#1) // Provenance: Sally Mann, Virginia // 745 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10151 Tel 212 750 7070 Fax 212 68 4848
Printed in black on applied label, verso, lower left frame backing: EDWYNN HOUK GALLERY // Sally Mann (American, b. 1951) // UNTITLED, 1998 // Gelatin silver enlargement print, 37 ¼ by 47 // inches, toned with tea. Printed by the photo- // grapher from the original negative in 1999, and // mounted to archival 4-ply rag board. Print No. // 10 from a limited edition of 10. Signed, titled, // dated and editioned, in pencil on the verso. 3” // face frame with front bevel, antique black painted // finish, archival spacer, and non-reflective // Water White Denglas. (Deep South#1) // Provenance: Sally Mann, Virginia // 745 Fifth Avenue New York NY 10151 Tel 212 750 7070 Fax 212 68 4848
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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Sally Mann
1998
Gelatin silver print with tea toning
2019.682
Sally Mann
2000
Gelatin silver print with applied varnish
2019.685
