Utah Southern Extension
2001
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
gelatin silver print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 18.8 × 24.4 cm (7 3/8 × 9 5/8 in.) mount: 40.64 × 50.8 cm (16 × 20 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund
Accession Number
2012.47.12
Art Historical Context
Mark Ruwedel's *Utah Southern Extension* (2001) captures the haunting remnants of a 19th-century railroad line that once snaked through Utah's rugged terrain, symbolizing America's westward expansion. As part of Ruwed broader exploration of the American West's industrial archaeology, this gelatin silver print documents the faint, weathered traces of human ambition etched into the landscape—abandoned tracks fading into the earth amid vast, indifferent skies. The title nods to the Utah Southern Railroad, built in 1870s to connect mining towns and boost Mormon settlement, a feat of engineering th...
About the Artist
Mark Ruwedel
Mark Ruwedel, born on June 11, 1954, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, initially pursued painting, earning a BFA from Kutztown State College in 1978. He transitioned to photography during this time, later obtaining an MFA from Concordia University in Montreal in 1983. Working as a custom printer in Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1980 honed his technical skills before he relocated to Canada, where he taught a...