Accession Number
2013/2.296

Title
Arm and Ventilator, New York

Artist(s)
André Kertész

Artist Nationality
American (North American)

Object Creation Date
1937

Medium & Support
gelatin silver print on paper

Dimensions
7 5/8 in x 9 1/16 in (19.37 cm x 23.02 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Maxine and Lawrence K. Snider

Subject matter
In this enigmatic photograph, André Kertész depicts a man's arm reaching through the circular partition of a ventilator fan. The arm's owner is barely visible, leaving his appendage, pinned between the blades of the fan, as the central axis of a bizarre still life. Kertész encountered this strange sight at a drugstore on Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street in Greenwich Village, New York, and cropped the image to heighten its mystery and latent violence.

Physical Description
This image represents a wooden planked wall with a circular metal fan cut into it. A man's arm reaches out from the opposite side of the wall through the fan (that is not turning). His sleeve is rolled up past his elbow.

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
arms (animal components)
drugstores
fixed fans
still lifes
workers