102 Items in this Learning Collection
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Copyright
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New York, from "Master Prints Volume II"

Accession Number
1987/1.253.7

Title
New York, from "Master Prints Volume II"

Artist(s)
Elliott Erwitt

Object Creation Date
1953; printed 1985

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
19 15/16 in. x 23 15/16 in. ( 50.7 cm x 60.8 cm )

Credit Line
Gift of Mr. Clayton E. Wilhite

Label copy
These two images by Elliott Erwitt depict different aspects of motherhood. The top image shows fatigue and even isolation as the mother, reclining on the bed, takes a break from feeding her baby to stretch. In the bottom image depicting the same figures, the intimate bonding of mother and child are perfectly captured in the exchanged glances, the mother’s and cat’s bodies forming a protective parenthesis around the vulnerable child. This touching image was included in the exhibition The Family of Man, organized in 1955 for the Museum of Modern Art in New York by Edward Steichen.
Carole McNamara, Assistant Director for Collections & Exhibitions
on the occasion of the exhibition New York Observed: The Mythology of the City
(July 13 – September 22, 2003)

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
cats
child
modern and contemporary art
mother
reclining

14 Related Resources

Art of interest to Judaic Studies
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
Childbearing, birth, midwifery, maternity
(Part of 8 Learning Collections)
Children and Childhood
(Part of 7 Learning Collections)
Families
(Part of 5 Learning Collections)
Mothers and Children
(Part of 10 Learning Collections)
New York City
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)
Photographic Portraiture 1970-1989
(Part of: Identity and Self-Understanding)
Jewish Photographers 
(Part of: Ethnicity and Race)
Elliott Erwitt
(Part of: Modern Jewish Photography F22 - Dash Moore)
Acts of Indifference
(Part of 3 Learning Collections)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved