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Introduction

RISD and Photography

June 5 - October 26, 2008

This inaugural show celebrates the creation of the Museum’s first exhibition space dedicated to photography: The Bill and Nancy Tsiaras Gallery in honor of Aaron Siskind. On view are highlights from the work of many exceptional photographers who have been associated with RISD. Not only have they made important contributions to the history of the medium, but many have also been instrumental to the growth of the collection.

The development of the Museum’s holding in this area is closely tied to the founding of RISD’s Photography Department. Harry Callahan was hired in 1961 to initiate the program, and Aaron Siskind joined him in 1971. Callahan and Siskind were two of the 20th century’s most influential photographers, admired for their unique approaches to the medium as well as for their teaching. They drew remarkably talented students to the College, an occurrence that continues under today’s faculty.

One of the earliest programs in the country, the department was founded before photography was widely considered an art form even among museums. Happily, RISD’s Museum staff was enthusiastic about photography and set about acquiring its images with advice from the new department shortly after Callahan’s arrival. Close connections with prominent RISD faculty and alumni have remained crucial to the development of the collection. To this day, Siskind and Callahan’s association with the College continues to attract gifts to the Museum. In fact, it was their friendship with Bill and Nancy Tsiaras that led to the support for this new dedicated gallery.

Siskind was an especially generous donor because of his belief that it was essential for students to have access to a collection of historical and contemporary photographs in order to pursue their studies. In 1983, he funded the Aaron Siskind Center for Photography, a specially designed Museum study center where students may view the photography collection at regularly scheduled hours without an appointment. This important service will be expanded in the relocated Siskind Center within the Minskoff Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs in the new Chace Center, which opens on September 27, 2008.

Notes:

Exhibition Type: in-house

Selected Objects

Richard Lebowitz

Jim Dow, Photo Student, 1967

Jeffrey Silverthorne

Nude, 1967

William Burke

Barbershop, 1967

Bart Parker

Pawtucket, 1967

Jim Dow

South Boston, VA, 1967

Harry Callahan

Cape Cod, 1972

Harry Callahan

Eleanor, ca. 1947

Aaron Siskind

Gloucester 1H, 1944

Aaron Siskind

Pleasures and Terrors of Levitation 474, 1954

Bert Beaver

Providence, 1973

Henry Horenstein

Jockey's Excuse, Keeneland, Lexington, Kentucky, 1985

Harry Callahan

Wells Street, Chicago, 1949

Ira Garber

Billboard, Providence, 1972

Peter Jones

Union Station, 1972

Arno Rafael Minkkinen

11, 1972

David T. Hanson

Coal strip mine, power plant and waste ponds, 1984

Harry Callahan

Providence, 1962, 1962

Harry Callahan

Chicago 1954, 1954

Aaron Siskind

Rome 49, 1963

Emmet Gowin

Nancy, Twine and Blanket Construction, Danville, Virginia, 1971, 1971

Aaron Siskind

Untitled, 1932-1940

Jed Fielding

Oaxaca #270, 1987

Harry Callahan

Alley, Chicago, 1948

Linda Connor

Dots and Hands, Fourteen Window Ruin, Bluff, Utah, 1987

Harry Callahan

Providence, 1966

Neal Rantoul

Southampton Princess Hotel, 1978

Emmet Gowin

Nancy, Danville, Virginia, 1969

Linda Connor

Entwined Buddha, Ayuthaya, Thailand, 1988

Francesca Woodman

Untitled (figure and door), 1977

Francesca Woodman

Untitled (greenhouse), 1977

Joe Deal

Backyard, Diamond Bar, California, 1980

Edward Grazda

Taliban at Jadi Maiwand, Kabul, Afghanistan, 1997

Joe Deal

Sunset Beach, California, 1978

Steven B. Smith

Valencia, CA, 1996

Sally Gall

Thirst, 1999

Aaron Siskind

Recife (Olinada) 9, 1986

Mary Kocol

Winter View Back Porch, Somerville, 2000, 2000

Deborah Bright

Conveyed to Ebenezer Goodrich by Deed of Elisha Hervey, 1799, 2000

Aaron Siskind

Chicago, 1954

Linda Connor

Monk and Storm, Spiti, Ladakh, India, 2002

Aaron Siskind

San Francisco #15, 1975, 1975

Laura McPhee

Judy Tracking Radio-Collared Wolves From Her Yard, Summer Range, H-Hook Ranch, Custer County, Idaho, 2004

More objects +

Exhibition Checklist

RISD and Photography

June 5 - October 26, 2008
View Checklist PDF

RISD Museum

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