Blast Furnaces: A Typology of Nine Photographic Prints
Artist
Bernd and Hilla Becher
(German, partnership established 1959)
Date1979-1986, printed 1994
Mediumnine gelatin silver prints
Dimensionseach sheet: 40.1 x 31 cm (15 13/16 x 12 3/16 in.)
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineStoddard Acquisition Fund in honor of Stephen B. Jareckie
Object number1995.31
Label TextFor nearly fifty years (1959-2007), the Bechers created gridded variants of common architectural structures they called typologies. The husband and wife collaborators photographed water towers, gas tanks, cooling towers, and other large industrial structures, including the iron and steel producing blast furnaces seen here.
Capturing structures from a frontal position using a large-plate camera, the Bechers created photographs that possess the impartiality of architectural drawings while calling attention to the subtle sculptural differences between them. Though the Blast Furnaces typology was made in an edition of fifteen, each grouping is intended to be seen as an independent work. This particular typology, including its arrangement, was created specifically for the Worcester Art Museum.ProvenanceSonnabend Gallery, New York, NYOn View
Not on view
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