The unsuspected beauty of the enlargements of leaves, stems, and buds in the book Art Forms in Nature by Karl Blossfeldt (1928) intrigued the public of the period. The American West Coast photographer Imogen Cunningham also worked with plants in the late 1920s, and her results were also acclaimed (ten of her plant photographs were seen in Film und Foto). Whereas Blossfeldt, a German professor of fine and applied art, examined botanical specimens to the art of nature's design, Cunningham was not interested in plants but in pictures--in the art she could design with plants and light, and a camera.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
Open Access
As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.
API
Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.
Inscription: Signed in pencil, recto LR beneath image: "Imogen Cunningham"; inscribed in pencil, recto LL and LR beneath image: "Printed in the 1920's", "Succulent in bud"; stamped, verso UC: "IMOGEN CUNNINGHAM // 1331 [illegible] ST. // SAN FRANCISCO 9,"; inscribed in red pencil, verso UR: "X";
Artist to Lee Witkin, 1970; (sale, Sotheby's, New York, May 11, 1983, Lot #370, to Houk/Lagnado); [Edwynn Houk to Waddell, October 14, 1983]; John C. Waddell
One of four known existing vintage prints; one is in the Julien Levy Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago; one is in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum; and one is in the private collection of a friend of Roi Partridge; the last of these was in the 1983 Cunningham show at the American Federation of Arts.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 23–December 31, 1989.
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 28–April 22, 1990.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," May 10–July 15, 1990.
High Museum of Art. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 5–April 28, 1991.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. "The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars. The Ford Motor Company Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art," June 8–August 4, 1991.
IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia. "The New Vision, IVAM, Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia," January 20, 1995–March 26, 1995.
Seattle Art Museum. "Imogen Cunningham: The Light Within," November 18, 2021–February 6, 2022.
J. Paul Getty Museum. "Imogen Cunningham: The Light Within," March 8, 2022–June 12, 2022.
Hambourg, Maria Morris. The New Vision: Photography between the World Wars, Ford Motor Company Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989. no. 118.
Imogen Cunningham (American, Portland, Oregon 1883–1976 San Francisco, California)
ca. 1923
Resources for Research
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
The Met's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 75,000 works spanning the history of photography from its invention in the 1830s to the present.
