Woodson Merrell
2009, printed 2010
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
inkjet print
Dimensions
image: 81.28 × 45.72 cm (32 × 18 in.) sheet: 91.44 × 50.8 cm (36 × 20 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kimberly and John F. Zwetchkenbaum
Accession Number
2014.149.7
Art Historical Context
**Woodson Merrell**, a striking inkjet print by Lucas Samaras from 2009 (printed 2010), the artist's enduring fascination with portraiture and human presence. Samaras, a Greek-American artist born in 1934, has long pushed the boundaries of photography, evolving from early Polaroid manipulations to sophisticated digital works in the 21st century. This vertical composition, measuring 32 × 18 inches, invites viewers into an intimate encounter, likely rendering its subject—Woodson Merrell—with a psychological depth characteristic of Samaras's oeuvre. The choice of inkjet printing underscores the ...
About the Artist
Lucas Samaras
Lucas Samaras, a Greek-born American artist renowned for his boundary-defying explorations of self and identity, was born on September 14, 1936, in Kastoria, Greece. Immigrating to the United States with his family in 1948 amid the turmoil of World War II and the Greek Civil War, he settled in West New York, New Jersey. Samaras pursued studies at Rutgers University from 1955 to 1959, where he befr...