Chicago
1950
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print mounted on paperboard
Dimensions
image: 23.3 x 34.7 cm (9 3/16 x 13 11/16 in.) mount: 38.1 x 46.1 cm (15 x 18 1/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Susan MacGill
Accession Number
2006.174.3
Art Historical Context
Harry Callahan's *Chicago* (1950) is a striking gelatin silver print that captures the essence of mid-century urban America. Measuring 23.3 x 34.7 cm, this black-and-white photograph exemplifies Callahan's masterful ability to transform everyday cityscapes into poetic compositions. As a pioneering photographer and educator at Chicago's Institute of Design, documented the city's architecture and streets with a modernist eye, emphasizing light, shadow, and geometric forms. The title evokes the bustling energy of postwar Chicago, a hub of industrial and cultural revival. The gelatin silver print...
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...