William Wegman
Before/On/After: Permutations I

Artist William Wegman American, born 1943

CultureAmerican

Titles

Before/On/After: Permutations I

Date1972, printed 1991

MediumGelatin silver prints

DimensionsImage (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Sheet (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Mount (Each): 10 7/16 × 10 1/2 in. (26.5 × 26.7 cm)
Frame (outer): 38 13/16 × 39 × 1 7/16 in. (98.6 × 99 × 3.7 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund

Object number2019.182.A-.G

Not on view

Explore Further

Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionWilliam Wegman and his canine costar, Man Ray, brought humor to
Conceptual art, making the heady experimental form accessible and fun. With Man
Ray acting as the silent and visually flexible “straight man” (or “straight
dog”) in their photographic performances, Wegman could provide the comic
relief. Here, the duo confidently demonstrates the possibilities of a small
set of shapes with linked positions: circle means before; triangle means on;
and square means after. Permutations, a play on Variations (a
common title for painted Geometric Abstractions), reduces abstract art to the
level of a cute dog trick.
Provenance[Texas Gallery, Houston]; purchased by MFAH, 2019.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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