Cape Cod
1974
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
overall (image): 21.8 x 22.6 cm (8 9/16 x 8 7/8 in.) sheet: 27.94 x 29.21 cm (11 x 11 1/2 in.) mat: 50.8 x 40.64 cm (20 x 16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Joyce and Robert B. Menschel
Accession Number
1994.93.6
Art Historical Context
Harry Callahan's *Cape Cod* (1974) is a captivating gelatin silver print that embodies the artist's lifelong exploration of light, form, and the poetry of the natural world. Measuring 21.8 x 22.6 cm in its image area, this photograph from the National Gallery of's collection—generously gifted by Joyce and Robert B. Menschel—evokes the windswept dunes and shimmering waters of Massachusetts' iconic peninsula. Callahan (1912–1999), a pioneering American photographer associated with the Institute of Design Chicago, elevated everyday scenes into abstract compositions, bridging modernist experimenta...
About the Artist
Harry Callahan
Harry Morey Callahan (1912–1999) was a pioneering American photographer whose self-taught ingenuity transformed everyday scenes into profound visual poetry. Born in Detroit, Michigan, he briefly studied engineering at Michigan State University before working at Chrysler, where he joined the company camera club. In 1938, Callahan took up photography as a hobby, but a 1941 lecture by Ansel Adams ins...