Wright Morris portfolio
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Description
- Title
- Wright Morris portfolio
- Creator
- Morris, Wright, 1910-1998
- Contributor
-
Sealfon, Mugell.
Witkin, Lee D. - Published / Created
- 1981.
- Publication Place
- Roslyn Heights, N.Y.
- Publisher
- Witkin-Berley
- Abstract
-
An artist's proof of a portfolio containing mounted photographic prints printed and signed by Wright Morris in 1981, of interior and exterior locations in Nebraska, Indiana, Kansas, New Jersey, and New Mexico, 1940-1941, and 1947. Many of the images in these photographs appeared in his "photo-text" works, including The Inhabitants (1946), The Home Place (1948), and God's Country and My People (1968). This portfolio is the third of five artist's proofs. The portfolio includes an oversize pamphlet with a statement by Morris and portrait of him by Lee D. Witkin, 1980. Mugell Sealfon designed the portfolio
Exterior images of locations in Nebraska include "House in Winter, eastern Nebraska, 1941", a exterior view of an unpainted wooden house surrounded by a snow-covered prairies and a wooden snow fence; "Model T in Shed, the home place, near Norfolk, Nebraska, 1947" shows the rear portion of a Model T Ford automobile with trees reflected in the rear window; "Barber Pole, Weeping Water, Nebraska, 1947", shows a weather-beaten barber's pole on a cement sidewalk advertising baths; and "Uncle Harry, the home place, near Norfolk, Nebraska, 1947", shows the back of an older man walking through the open door of a wooden building
Interior images of locations in Nebraska include "Ed's Place, near Norfolk, Nebraska, 1947", depicting an arrangement on the top of a clothes dresser consisting of an oil lamp, El Roi-Tan cigar box, and envelopes, in front of a window; "Front Room Reflected in Mirror, the home place, near Norfolk, Nebraska, 1947", an image of a round mirror reflecting family photographs on a table and wall and a wooden door; "Barbershop, Weeping Water, Nebraska, 1947", showing a barber's chair in a barbershop in front mirrors with the reflection of a man and ornamented wooden shelves; "Dresser Drawer, near Norfolk, Nebraska, 1947", an overhead view of a dresser drawer containing flashlights, a box of shotgun shells, medicine boxes, and part of the dresser top and a pocket watch, jackknife, and hairbrush
Image of a location in Indiana consists of "Juke Box, Southern Indiana, 1950", an interior view of a jukebox below a wall containing pictures, a ceramic fish, and a sign that reads, "No Dancing".
Image of a location in Kansas consists of the "Gano Grain Elevator, western Kansas, 1940" depicting the large wooden grain elevator next to a railroad with a train from the Atchison Topeka and the Santa Fe Railroad Company
Image of a location in New Jersey consists of "Church Facade, near Rathway, New Jersey, 1940," reflecting the architectural details of the wooden Methodist Episcopal Church of Lebanon, established in 1871
Image of a location in New Mexico consists of "Powerhouse and Palm Tree, near Lordsburg, New Mexico, 1940", view of a wooden building with a tall smokestack with a palm tree and railroad tracks beside it and mountains in the distance
- Description
-
Wright Morris was the author of over thirty novels and volumes of short stories, essays, and criticism, and a photographer. He created the idea of "photo-text," joining pictures with short, lyrical passages of prose related in spirit, but not illustrative or interpretive of the image.
Photographs 19.0 x 24.1 cm. on mounts 35.2 x 43.1 cm.
Portfolio labels and numbers on versos of mounts. - Provenance
- Gift of an anonymous donor in 2004.
- Extent
- 1 portfolio case ([3] p., 12 photographic prints) : 37.5 x 46.5 cm.
- Extent of Digitization
- This object has been completely digitized.
- Language
-
English
Collection Information
- Repository
- Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- Call Number
- YCAL MSS 205
Subjects, Formats, And Genres
- Genre
-
Pictorial works
Artists' proofs
Photographic prints
Portfolios - Material
- b & w ;
- Subject (Geographic)
-
Middle West.
Kansas
Lordsburg (N.M.)
Nebraska
Norfolk (Neb.)
Rathway (N.J.)
Weeping Water (Neb.) - Subject (Name)
-
Morris, Wright, 1910-1998.
Sealfon, Mugell.
Witkin, Lee D.
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company - Subject (Topic)
-
Barbershops
Church buildings
Country life
Ford Model T automobile
Grain elevators
Jukeboxes
Photography, Artistic - Subjects
-
Morris, Wright, 1910-1998
Sealfon, Mugell
Witkin, Lee D.
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad Company > Pictorial works
Barbershops > Pictorial works
Church buildings > Pictorial works
Country life > Middle West
Ford Model T automobile > Pictorial works
Grain elevators > Kansas > Pictorial works
Jukeboxes > Pictorial works
Photography, Artistic
Lordsburg (N.M.) > Pictorial works
Nebraska > Pictorial works
Norfolk (Neb.) > Pictorial works
Rathway (N.J.) > Pictorial works
Weeping Water (Neb.) > Pictorial works
Access And Usage Rights
- Access
- Yale Community Only
- Rights
- The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement.
- Citation
- Wright Morris Portfolio. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
Identifiers
- Catalog Record
- 6720709
- Object ID (OID)
- 2012166
Tools
- Cite
-
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