San Quentin Point, no. 42
1982–1983
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image: 18.8 × 22.9 cm (7 3/8 × 9 in.) sheet: 20.32 × 25.4 cm (8 × 10 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Stephen G. Stein
Accession Number
2015.131.25
Art Historical Context
**San Quentin Point, no.42** by Lewis Balt, created between 1982 and 1983, captures a stark, desolate vista in gelatin silver print—a classic black-and-white photographic medium prized for its sharp detail, rich tonal range, and archival stability. Measuring about 7⅜ × 9 inches, this intimate print invites close inspection of altered American landscape, a theme in Baltz's. Baltz, a figure in the New Top movement of the 197s and '80s approached photography with clinical detachment, documenting the scars of industrialization and suburban expansion. Shot near San Quentin State Prison in Californ...
About the Artist
Lewis Baltz
Lewis Baltz (1945–2014) was born on September 12 in Newport Beach, California, where he developed an early passion for photography, beginning seriously at age 12. His father passed away when he was 11, an event that marked his childhood. Baltz pursued formal training at Monterey Peninsula College in 1967, followed by a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1969 and an MFA from Claremont Grad...