Lee Friedlander
Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

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Images(4)

Artist Lee Friedlander (American, born 1934)American, born 1934

CultureAmerican

Titles

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota

Date1969

PlaceMount Rushmore, South Dakota, United States

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsImage: 7 1/2 × 11 1/4 in. (19.1 × 28.6 cm)
Sheet: 11 × 13 7/8 in. (27.9 × 35.2 cm)

Credit LineThe Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection

Object number91.629

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Allan Chasanoff Photographic Collection

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

Description“In a snap, or a small portion of time, all that the camera can consume in breadth and bite and light is rendered in astonishing detail: all the leaves on a tree as well as the tree itself and its surroundings.” Lee Friedlander’s well-known statement is deceptively simple; in the hands of an untrained photographer, the camera will indiscriminately bestow equal import on the trivial details and on the intended subject of the shot. For many artists, the appeal of the snapshot lay in its seeming lack of sophistication. Tapping into the realization that these artless photographs can be visually or conceptually compelling, photographers cast a reflection of the everyday that, like Friedlander’s Mt. Rushmore, transforms the familiar into a new way of seeing.
ProvenanceAllan Chasanoff, New York; given to MFAH, 1991.
Exhibition History“In A Snap: The Art of Vernacular Photography,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, November 12, 2014–February 22, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

verso bottom edge in pencil " Mt. Rushmore 1969 96-16 ", lower right corner " 76 "

verso center above stamp in pencil " Lee Friedlander "

verso a stamp " This photograph is not released for publication or for commercial use of any kind. For permission communicate with Lee Friedlander. 44 So. Mountain Road, New City, N.Y. 10956 © Lee Friedlander 1976 "

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