Blast Furnaces, U.S.A.
- Date
- 1979–86, printed 1992
- Material
- Twenty-four gelatin silver prints
- depicts
- Maryland, United States, North and Central America
- depicts
- Ohio, United States, North and Central America
- depicts
- Alabama, United States, North and Central America
- depicts
- Indiana, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Photographs
- Collection
- Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- image (each): 15 15/16 x 12 3/16 in. (40.5 x 31 cm)
sheet (each): 21 3/4 x 18 1/4 in. (55.3 x 46.3 cm) - Credit Line
- Funds given by the Contemporary Art Society, the John R. Goodall Charitable Trust, Mr. S. Lee McMillan, Mr. and Mrs. Fielding Lewis Holmes, Mr. and Mrs. James Lee Johnson Jr., Mrs. Francis A. Mesker, Mr. Thomas F. Schlafly, Mr. and Mrs. William H. T. Bush, Dr. and Mrs. William H. Danforth, Dr. and Mrs. Louis Fernandez, Mr. Jack Ansehl, Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence E. Langsam, and other donors to the 1990 and 1991 Art Enrichment Funds
- Rights
- © Bernd and Hilla Becher, Sonnabend Gallery, New York
- Object Number
- 4:1993a-x
NOTES
This series presents a variety of blast furnaces, photographed in American cities such as Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. Sensitive to the slight physical variations evident in each of these structures, Bernd and Hilla Becher composed these images by carefully selecting an elevated “ideal viewpoint” and placing each furnace at center. By isolating their subjects and printing them at uniform size, the Bechers highlight the sculptural qualities of the furnaces. Together the photographs invite careful, almost scientific observation of the differences between these structures, all built for the same purpose, the production of industrial metals.
We regularly update records, which may be incomplete. If you have additional information, please contact us at [email protected].