Susan Meiselas
Muchachos Await Counterattack by The National Guard, Matagalpa, Nicaragua

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Artist Susan Meiselas (American, born 1948)American, born 1948

CultureAmerican

Titles

Muchachos Await Counterattack by The National Guard, Matagalpa, Nicaragua

Date1978, printed 2006

PlaceMatagalpa, Nicaragua

MediumChromogenic print

DimensionsImage: 12 13/16 × 19 5/16 in. (32.5 × 49.1 cm)
Sheet: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Photo Forum 2006

Object number2006.1094

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionFrom June 1978 until the resignation of the Nicaraguan military dictator Anastasio Somoza in July 1979, Susan Meiselas photographed the war between Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) insurgents and the Somoza-led National Guard. Atypically for a war photographer, Meiselas photographed both sides of the conflict and shot only in color. As a result, her images form an especially vivid account of the war. This one shows the masked and ill-equipped guerrillas who would eventually topple the long-ruling Somoza dynasty.
Provenance[Magnum Photos, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2006.
Exhibition History"WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 11 November, 2012 - 3 February, 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Marked in ink on verso lower center: "Muchachos await counterattack / by The National Guard. / Matagalpa, Nicaragua, 1978"

Marked in ink verso lower right: "Susan Meiselas / 2006"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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