Ithaca-Policeman in Front of Fruit Stand
<p>In the 1930s Arnold Newman began making black-and-white portraits of such notables as Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, and John F. Kennedy, utilizing personal artifacts or specialized tools to convey his subjects’ personali-ties or professions. Newman took this rarely exhibited photograph of an African American policeman standing in front of a store window while he was on assignment for Life magazine in Ithaca, New York. In contrast to his iconic, highly constructed portraits, this picture exemplifies a more spontaneous approach in vivid color. Forgoing props, poses, and artificial lighting, Newman instead allowed the world to meet him halfway.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 1949
- Medium
- Dye imbibition print
- Dimensions
- Image: 26.3 × 31.5 cm (10 3/8 × 12 7/16 in.); Paper: 28.1 × 33.8 cm (11 1/8 × 13 5/16 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Arnold Newman
Artist
Photography
Arnold Newman was an American photographer renowned for his environmental portraits of cultural and political figures, developing a distinctive approach that situated subjects within spaces reflecting their work and character. Working primarily in black and white from the 1940s onward, he pioneered a compositional method that integrated architecture, objects, and spatial relationships as equal elements to the human face. His portraits of artists, scientists, and statesmen established portraiture as a serious documentary form in postwar American photography. Newman's technical mastery of available light and geometric composition influenced generations of editorial and fine art photographers.
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More by Arnold Newman
Self-Portrait
1998 · Gelatin silver print
Andrew Wyeth
1994 · Gelatin silver print
Sebastiao Salgado
1991 · Gelatin silver print
Twyla Tharp
1987 · Gelatin silver print
Akira Kurosawa, New York City
1981 · Gelatin silver print
Henry Moore
1977 · Gelatin silver print
Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Arnold Newman
- Year
- 1949
- Medium
- Dye imbibition print
- Dimensions
- Image: 26.3 × 31.5 cm (10 3/8 × 12 7/16 in.); Paper: 28.1 × 33.8 cm (11 1/8 × 13 5/16 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-1949-053732
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified