Bill Owens
I don't feel that Richie playing with guns will have a negative effect on his personality.

I don't feel that Richie playing with guns will have a negative effect on his personality.

© Bill Owens

I don't feel that Richie playing with guns will have a negative effect on his personality.
I don't feel that Richie playing with guns will have a negative effect on his personality.
ArtistAmerican, born 1938
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • I don't feel that Richie playing with guns will have a negative effect on his personality.
Date1971, printed 2008
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 13 1/8 × 10 1/8 in. (33.3 × 25.7 cm)
Sheet: 13 15/16 × 10 7/8 in. (35.4 × 27.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of the artist in memory of John Cleary
Object number2008.414
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Photography
Object Type
DescriptionRichie
Ferguson sits astride his Big Wheel, scowling, gun in hand, playing equal parts
neighborhood watch and outlaw. Few four-year-olds have looked quite so
menacing. The title for this photograph comes directly from one of Richie’s
parents, who lived with their son in the San Francisco East Bay suburbs. Bill
Owens began photographing the area in the late 1960s for his Suburbia series,
which documented newly constructed housing developments and their colorful
residents. In these neighborhoods, Owens found individuals and families whose
often quirky outlooks on life strongly diverged from the uniform, placid homes
they inhabited.

ProvenanceThe artist, Hayward, California; given to MFAH, 2008.
Exhibition History"Remembering John Cleary," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, January 13–May 10, 2009.

"Always Greener: Seeing and Seeking Suburbia—Selections from the Museum’s Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, August 21, 2018–February 3, 2019.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Marked in pencil, verso: "for the MFA / in memory of / John Cleary / Bill"
Signed in pencil, verso LR: "Bill Owens / 2008"

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

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