Matt Mahurin
Nicaragua

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Images(2)

Artist Matt Mahurin (American, born 1959)American, born 1959

CultureAmerican

Titles

Nicaragua

Date1987

PlaceEl Salvador

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 10 3/8 × 10 5/8 in. (26.4 × 26.9 cm)
Sheet: 15 7/8 × 13 1/16 in. (40.4 × 33.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mike and Mickey Marvins

Object number2013.728

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Special Collections

Marvins Family Collections

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionMatt Mahurin’s photograph of two boys holding hands was taken as part of a photo-essay on Nicaragua. Known for staged or manipulated scenes, Mahurin divorced his subjects from their surroundings in this photograph, removing the implicit photojournalistic content and presenting a seemingly universal narrative in its place. The photograph may show signs of hunger and poverty, widespread during the Sandinista regime and the Contra War, but it speaks to the powerful solidarity of a childhood friendship.
Provenance[Butterfield & Butterfield, sale 522M, lot 3512, after 1987]; purchased by Michael Marvins and Michele Marvins, Houston, after 1987; given to MFAH, 2013.
Exhibition History“A Photographer’s Collection: Gifts from Michael and Michele Marvins,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 4–July 5, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed in pencil lower right recto sheet:MM
Inscribed in pencil lower left recto sheet: 24/100
Inscribed on verso mount: Matt Mahurin, Children Holding Hands, El Salvador, Platinum Print, $1200.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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