Act II: The Voyage: Of the achievements of great Civilizations
1980
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
silver dye bleach print
Dimensions
image: 26.5 × 26.5 cm (10 7/16 × 10 7/16 in.) sheet: 27.94 × 35.56 cm (11 × 14 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Corcoran Collection (Gift of Dr. and Mrs. John V. Knaus)
Accession Number
2015.19.4701
Art Historical Context
Arthur Tress's *Act II: The Voyage Of the Achievements of Great Civilizations* (198) is a captivating silver dye bleach print, measuring 26.5 × 26.5 cm, now housed in the National Gallery of Art'scoran Collection (gift of Dr. and Mrs. John V. Knaus). This square-format photograph evokes the epic journeys and triumphs of ancient societies, suggesting a staged, dreamlike tableau that blends historical reverence with imaginative storytelling. Tress, a American photographer born in 1940, was renowned for his surreal, theatrical imagery that blurred the lines between reality and fantasy, often draw...
About the Artist
Arthur Tress
Arthur Tress (born 1940) is an American photographer whose deeply psychological and surrealist-inflected imagery has earned him a distinctive place in the history of fine art photography. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied art history at Bard College before traveling widely — to Japan, Africa, and Europe — absorbing visual traditions far beyond his own cultural background. These experiences pr...